Wang Lihong was the No 1 pitcher on China's national softball team before 2000 and helped it win the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.

Now, the 37-year-old is seeking glory for the team in a new position, as head coach.

For the upcoming Beijing Games the host team is considered a medal contender, despite strong competition from the US, Japan and Australia.

"Compared with those powerhouses the level of China's team is second class and there is a gap," said Wang, who took up the head coach job in March last year.

"But if we perform well, we still have the opportunity to win."

In order to achieve this goal, the team's previous coach, Michael Bastian from the US, was sacked because of disappointing results.

The national team is a two-time World Championships runner-up and won the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics. But its form has dipped in recent years, placing fourth at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, 2004 Athens Olympics and 2006 Worlds.

Bastian was the team's first foreign coach but his results were modest. China was fourth at the World Championships in Sept 2006 and took bronze at the Doha Asian Games three months later.

It was at this point that Wang was recalled.

"You have no idea how proud and thrilled I was to have the chance of leading the team into the Beijing Olympics," Wang said.

But she also made clear that it wouldn't be an easy road ahead of her.

In 2005, she was working as a member of the national team's coaching group, before Bastian was announced as head coach.

Soon after Wang took over, there was a run of poor results which affected the team's confidence, added to which top pitcher Lu Wei was injured and looked likely to miss the Games.

"With the absence of Lu, we had no particularly strong pitcher, a key part of the team," Wang said. "So, we had to strengthen our overall power in both attack and defense. Good teamwork is the trademark of our team."

Led by Wang, a tough training schedule started bringing results. Last year, the team played over 80 national and international matches.

At the International Softball Tournament in October, China beat Australia and Canada to win the title. Wang was also named best coach of the tournament.

At the Japan Cup, later, Wang's team narrowly lost, facing the best in the world.

"Now, all the members of the team are clear about our goal and know how to achieve that goal," she said.

"Besides the real power, the teamwork and fighting spirit also play an important role. We have good teamwork, so I believe that when we face strong rivals, we still have a chance to win."

(China Daily 06/13/2008 page12)