All restrictions on the registration of foreign players have been officially canceled in both the men’s and women’s Chinese volleyball championships, which have been considered highly attractive in the volleyball world for a long time.
Chinese clubs competing in top divisions for both men and women in 2022-23 won’t need to pay attention to how many foreign players they register anymore. That’s the news volleyball fans in the Asian country waited to be announced as an official for many years. And it’s in fact a sensational one, as traditionally, Chinese clubs could tie up to two foreigners (except last season, when the limit remained two but was lowered to only one foreigner on the court).
The upcoming Super League for men (starting on October 29 and ending on January 15) will have 15 imports, while women’s competition (which will be played between November 10 and January 17) will see 14 imports. Several clubs have therefore decided to take advantage of the new rule. Shanghai leads the way in men’s competition with four foreign players, while Shenzhen has the most imports in the women’s league – as many as seven. There are some big names competing in the 2022-23 Super League for men and women: Juantorena, Bednorz, Vargas, Rabadzhieva…
The complete list of foreign players so far registered by male and female clubs in China:
2022-23 Men’s Super League:
Shanghai
Giulio Sabbi (ITA), OPP (Gioiella Prisma Taranto, ITA)
Osmany Juantorena (ITA), OH (Cucine Lube Civitanova, ITA)
Bartosz Bednorz (POL), OH (Zenit-Kazan, RUS)
Ricardo Calvo (CUB), S (Radnički doo, SRB)
Beijing
Maksim Shkredau (BLR), OPP (Yugra-Samotlor, RUS)
Thomas Jaeschke (USA), OH (Allianz Milano, ITA)
Maxwell Holt (USA), MB (Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza, ITA)
Jiangsu
Dzmitry Vash (BLR), S (Shakhtar Soligorsk, BLR)
Artur Udrys (BLR), OPP (PAOK Thessaloniki, GRE)
Mihajlo Stanković (SRB), OH (CS Arcada Galați, ROU)
Tianjin
Danilo Pavlović (SRB), OH (Calcit Kamnik, RUS)
Mitchell Stahl (USA), MB (PSG Stal Nysa, POL)
Hebei
Yurii Synytsia (UKR), S (Yugra-Samotlor, RUS)
Tymofii Poluian (UKR), OH (Sorgun Belediyespor, TUR)
Kanstantsin Panasenko (BLR), MB (Stroitel, BLR)
2022-23 Women’s Super League:
Tianjin
Melissa Vargas (CUB/TUR), OPP (Fenerbahçe Opet, TUR)
Shanghai
Samantha Bricio (MEX), OH (Dinamo-Ak Bars, RUS)
Beijing
Heidy Casanova (CUB), OPP (Le Cannet, FRA)
Katarina Lazović (SRB), OH (Vero Volley Monza, ITA)
Hristina Ruseva-Vuchkova (BUL), MB (Prosecco Doc Imoco Conegliano, ITA)
Shandong
Ana Cleger (CUB), OPP (Grot Budowlani Łódź, POL)
Dobriana Rabadzhieva (BUL), OH (Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club, ITA)
Shenzhen
Ana Jakšić (SRB), S (ŽOK Ub, SRB)
Dajana Bošković (BOS), OPP (Crvena zvezda, SRB)
Sara Klisura (SRB), OH (Békéscsabai Röplabda SE, HUN)
Ivana Vanjak (GER), OH (da Kuzeyboru, TUR)
Oleksandra Bytsenko (UKR), OH (da Nilüfer Belediyespor, TUR)
Mariya Kirilyuk (AZE), MB (Sparta, RUS)
Tijana Milojević (SRB), L (Crvena zvezda, SRB)