Volleyball

Nguyễn Thị Bích Tuyền of Việt Nam (No 10) hits a ball during the bronze-medal match between Việt Nam and Belgium at the FIVB Challenger Cup in July in the Philippines. Photo of VFV

HÀ NỘI The national women's volleyball teams are to get robust support in order for them reach even higher levels and get better international results according to the Volleyball Federation of Việt Nam (VFV).

Last month the team made history returning with a bronze medal from the 2024 FIVB Challenger Cup after defeating world number thirteen Belgium in the third-place playoff.

High achievement

It was the best result of the team in the world arena ever and one that pushed them to No 32 in the world ranking -- their highest placing ever.

Spiker Nguyễn Thị Bích Tuyền was voted best scorer and best spiker, while her team mate Nguyễn Khánh Đang was the best digger.

Earlier, they successfully defended their title of the AVC Challenger Cup in May and became one of Asian representatives at the FIVB Challenger Cup.

Tuyền was the MVP of the tournament, while Lê Thị Thúy was the best middle blocker and Đang best libero.

At the junior level, the U20 squad beat Chinese Taipei to place No 5 at the Asian championship and for the first time qualified for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship with the hosts and venues yet to be confirmed.

"The results were partly due to individuals' excellence together with the whole team's strong determination," coach Nguyễn Tuấn Kiệt said.

"We played without important outside hitter Trần Thị Thanh Thúy, because of injury at the FIVB Challenger Cup. Fortunately, Tuyền did good job, she not only took charge of the team (as well as Thúy) but also shone brilliantly."

He said the team were built based on solidarity and highest fighting spirit, adding that the players who showed their best performance will get regular spots in the starting team.

VFV General Secretary Lê Trí Trường noted that recently the women's volleyball has made rapid progress thanks to number of quality players. Outstanding personalities like Thanh Thúy, who was the first Vietnamese volleyballer playing in Europe, and Bích Tuyền reached continental level.

Vietnamese women's volleyball team will be strongly supported to be in Asian top teams. -- Photo of VFV

"The success was also due to the improved professional quality of domestic tournaments. The National Volleyball Championship and the youth tournament system were quality and highly competitive playgrounds where scouts could hunt talented players to contribute to the national team," Trường said.

He said Việt Nam were among the strongest teams in Southeast Asia but there was still a big gap with the top Asian teams such as China, Japan and Thailand.

Strong support

VFV Vice President Trần Đức Phấn said Việt Nam deserved to have their IVB Challenger Cup bronze for what they did in training and competing but to rise up to continental level would be a long road ahead.

The first job was to invest over the long-term and so the federation will seek for more financial resources and from more diverse sources to fund the national teams.

Players of all levels would be trained in countries with developed volleyball backgrounds and compete internationally to accumulate experience and sharpen their techniques.

Currently, the national team are competing at an international friendly Future Stars 2024 in China. After their success at the AVC and FIVB Challenger Cups, Việt Nam are expected to again return with a good result.

The tournament is a warm up for the team at the SEA V.League 2024 and VTV Cup 2024, both in August in Việt Nam. VNS