YOKOHAMA, Japan, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese volleyball coach Lang Ping hopes her team's experience at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship will lead to an improvement ahead of Tokyo 2020.

"It has been a long journey. Our team has been doing well and trying to learn and improve in the matches," said Lang. China will play Italy in the semifinal, while Serbia will face the Netherlands.

Italy defeated China 3-1 in the first round of the tournament. "The four teams in the semifinals are all very strong. Italy has been making fast progress, and we will bring our best to play a great game [in the semifinal]," said Lang.

Some Chinese players have been criticized for showing inconsistent form in the tournament. Lang said that the team wouldn't be affected by such criticism.

"We have our strong points as well as shortcomings... We will improve ourselves with an eye on Tokyo 2020. Our opponents here are all very strong, and every match is tough. We will learn from each game and gather experiences," she said. Italy's coach Davide Mazzanti said he is looking forward to meeting China in the semifinal.

"We are happy to make it to the semifinal. Our team is in good form and ready to play the Olympic champions. We are happy to play the team coached by Lang Ping, whom I respect a lot," he said.

Mazzanti says his team's victory over China in the first round of the tournament doesn't mean anything. "We are excited to play China, and we don't think we have an advantage or any pressure [because of the previous victory]. We will just try to do our best and details will decide the outcome of the game," he said.?