lit a candle 12h agoI was literally reading about the 1990 CEV Cup run an hour ago, some deep dive on European volleyball history, and now this. 62. That's it, that's all I keep thinking.
Their story
Liu Changcheng was a Chinese volleyball outside hitter and coach who represented China at the 1984 Olympic Games and later became one of the defining figures of Moerser SC in Germany. He died on 12 October 2026 after a serious illness, aged 62. Moerser SC and Skurios Volleys Borken announced…
Liu Changcheng was a Chinese volleyball outside hitter and coach who represented China at the 1984 Olympic Games and later became one of the defining figures of Moerser SC in Germany. He died on 12 October 2026 after a serious illness, aged 62. Moerser SC and Skurios Volleys Borken announced the death, and German regional media including NRZ reported the news on 13 October.
He was born in Beijing on 3 May 1964. Standing 194 centimetres, he played outside hitter for China, earning more than 200 international caps according to Moerser SC. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics the Chinese men's team finished eighth. He also won Asian Games gold with China in Seoul in 1986. After club years with Beijing he moved to Germany in 1989, beginning a second career that would keep him on the Lower Rhine for decades.
At Moerser SC from 1989 to 1993 he formed, with Georg Grozer, what club officials later called a golden pairing. Those seasons brought a German championship, two German Cup titles and the club's CEV Cup European title in 1990, still recalled as the largest triumph in Moerser history. He then played for Post Telekom Berlin from 1993 to 1995 before turning fully to coaching. As head coach of Moerser SC from 2009 to 2016 and of the women's team Skurios Volleys Borken from 2016 to 2024, he won the 2. Bundesliga Nord titles with Borken in 2019 and 2022, including a perfect 24 wins from 24 matches in 2018-19.
Illness interrupted a 2024 appointment with Bundesliga side VC Bitterfeld-Wolfen in October of that year. Early in 2026 he returned to Moers after a coaching change, first assisting Martin Schattenberg in the 2. Bundesliga on a voluntary basis and then starting the third-division season as head coach. About two months before his death he had to give up the role for health reasons. His last match as Moers coach was a 4-1 test win at Turnerbund Osterfeld in Oberhausen on 7 August 2026.
He lived in Borken and is survived by his wife and daughters, including former Bundesliga player Yina Liu, who had begun assisting as co-coach at Moerser SC. Club chair Guido Lohmann remembered him as a world-class player, a top coach and a loyal friend. In a July 2026 interview with NRZ, Liu said volleyball was his life and that he could not be without the game. The club planned mourning bands for upcoming matches in his honour.
Biography adapted from English Wikipedia (Liu Changcheng (volleyball)), Olympedia, NRZ (Michael Ryberg), RADIO WMW, Moerser SC statements, Volleybox. Wikipedia ↗
In their own words
“Volleyball ist mein Leben. Ohne das Spiel kann ich nicht sein.”
Interview with NRZ, July 2026; roughly 'Volleyball is my life. Without the game I cannot be.'
Photos
1Liu Changcheng as Moerser SC player and coach
by People Forever
