China: No more restrictions on number of foreign players in Chinese clubs – 29 registered for 2022/23 Super League!

All restrictions on the registration of foreign players have been officially canceled in both the men’s and women’s Chinese volleyball championships, that have been considered attractive in the volleyball world for a long time.

Thus, Chinese clubs competing in top divisions for both men and women in upcoming season 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 officially announced for many years.
And it’s in fact a sensational one, as traditionally, Chinese clubs could tie up to two foreigners, with the exception of 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.
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!
And there are some big names competing in the 2022-23 Super League for men and women, including Juantorena, Bednorz, Jaeschke, Vargas and 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 (opposite – ITA – from Gioiella Prisma Taranto, ITA), Osmany Juantorena (outside-hitter – ITA – from Cucine Lube Civitanova, ITA), Bartosz Bednorz (outside-hitter – POL – from Zenit-Kazan, RUS), Ricardo Calvo (setter – CUB – from Radnički, SRB)

Beijing | Maksim Shkredau (opposite – BLR – from Yugra-Samotlor, RUS), Thomas Jaeschke (outside-hitter – USA – from Allianz Milano, ITA), Maxwell Holt (middle-blocker – USA – from Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza, ITA)

Jiangsu | Dzmitry Vash (outside-hitter – BLR – from Shakhtar Soligorsk, BLR), Artur Udrys (opposite – BLR – from PAOK Thessaloniki, GRE), Mihajlo Stanković (outside-hitter – SRB – from CS Arcada Galați, ROU)

Tianjin | Danilo Pavlović (outside-hitter – SRB – from Calcit Kamnik, SLO), Mitchell Stahl (middle-blocker – USA – from PSG Stal Nysa, POL)

Hebei | Yurii Synytsia (setter – UKR – from Yugra-Samotlor, RUS), Tymofii Poluian (outside-hitter – UKR – from Sorgun Belediyespor, TUR), Kanstantsin Panasenko (middle-blocker – BLR – from Stroitel Minsk, BLR)

2022-23 Women’s Super League:

Tianjin | Melissa Vargas (opposite – CUB/TUR – from Fenerbahçe Opet, TUR)

Shanghai | Samantha Bricio (outside-hitter – MEX – from Dinamo-Ak Bars, RUS)

Beijing | Heidy Casanova (opposite – CUB – from Volero Le Cannet, FRA), Katarina Lazović (outside-hitter – SRB – from Vero Volley Monza, ITA), Hristina Ruseva-Vuchkova (middle-blocker – BUL – from Imoco Conegliano, ITA)

Shandong | Ana Cleger (opposite – CUB – from Grot Budowlani Łódź, POL), Dobriana Rabadzhieva (outside-hitter – BUL – from Acqua & Sapone Roma Volley Club, ITA)

Shenzhen | Ana Jakšić (setter – SRB – from ŽOK Ub, SRB), Dajana Bošković (opposite – BOS – from Crvena zvezda, SRB), Sara Klisura (outside-hitter – SRB – from Békéscsabai Röplabda SE, HUN), Ivana Vanjak (outside-hitter – GER – from Kuzeyboru, TUR), Oleksandra Bytsenko (outside-hitter – UKR – from Nilüfer Belediyespor, TUR), Mariya Kirilyuk (middle-blocker – AZE – from Sparta, RUS), Tijana Milojević (libero – SRB – from Crvena zvezda, SRB).