Volleyball

The women's national volleyball team will compete at the Women's AVC Club Volleyball Championship to prepare for the 32nd SEA Games. Photo webthethao.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Women's AVC Club Volleyball Championship 2023 later this month will be an important test for the national team of Việt Nam ahead of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games next month in Cambodia.

The tournament, or VTVcab Cup, will be held in Vĩnh Phúc Province from April 25 to May 2. 

The Việt Nam national team, named Sports Centre 1 for the tournament, have stepped in to replace domestic champions Geleximco Thái Bình.

Speaking at a press conference on April 11, Deputy Director of the Việt Nam Sports Administration Trần Đức Phấn said the national team are aiming to do well in the tournament.

They are approaching the event as a warm-up for SEA Games next month, where they finished second last year. 

Attending the conference, Bùi Hồng Đô, director of Vĩnh Phúc Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said the Vĩnh Phúc Gymnasium was upgraded for the 31st SEA Games last May.

The 3,000-seat venue was also equipped with new equipment for the Asian championship.

He added that the security and health-care issues were planned to ensure all teams' safety. Tours to the provincial famous landmarks and destinations would be held for athletes.

The tournament, sponsored by Đại Nam University, will be broadcast live on VTVcab channels and apps such as ON Sports News, ON Sports+ and ON Plus.

They will play in Group A against Hisamitsu Springs of Japan, King Whale Taipei of Chinese Taipei and Paykan of Iran.

Group B will feature five clubs Liaoning Donghua from the Chinese mainland, Diamond Food Fine Chef Sports Club from Thailand, Altay of Kazakhstan, Khuvsgul Erchim from Mongolia, and Hip Hing VC of Hong Kong.

The tournament will apply the Video Eyes Challenge, and all participants will play their pool round-robin preliminaries between April 25 and 29. The best two clubs of each group will advance to the semi-finals. The rest will compete in the classification matches.

The Women's AVC Club Volleyball Championship organisers and sponsors pose for photos after the tournament announcing ceremony on April 11 in Hà Nội. — Photo of VSA

Apart from prizes for the top teams, organisers will present awards for outstanding individual players.

The tournament winner will qualify for the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship.

In the last edition held in Kazakhstan, Kuanysh edged past Altay VC 3-2 in the all-Kazakh final, with Thailand's Diamond Food-Fine Chef Sports Club taking the bronze medal and Iran's Barij Essence in fourth place.

SEA Games news

A draw for the female tournament was conducted last week. Việt Nam's women's team are in Group B with the Philippines, Myanmar and the hosts.

Group A features Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.

Cambodia's potential is relatively unknown as they have recently welcomed many overseas players home ahead of the Games.

However, their lack of playing time together could offset any advantage this brings. 

Phấn, also vice president of the Việt Nam Volleyball Federation, said: “Our SEA Games mission is tough. Our rivals have prepared well for the Games. We will have to sharpen our skills to the fullest and be ready for the tournament."

According to coach Nguyễn Tuấn Kiệt, his team will go to Vĩnh Phúc on April 20. The championship would allow players to show off their abilities and flexible adaption during the event.

The final squad for the SEA Games will be decided at the end of the club championship. 

Meanwhile, the men's tournament will be redrawn, the organisers said.

According to the Philippine Olympic Committee, the country inadvertently overlooked men's volleyball before the submission deadline in February, resulting in the exclusion of the Philippines from the men's volleyball competition's draw held last Monday in Phnom Penh.

The Cambodia Southeast Asian Games Organising Committee said in a statement, it was backing the repeat of the draw.

The date for the redraw has not been confirmed.

Volleyball will be held from May 3-8 for the men, and May 9-14 for the women. VNS