Vietnam volleyball team gear up for SEA Games

The event will be held in the northern province of Hai Duong on July 8-15 with the participation of seven teams, namely Vietnam’s national team, Vietnam’s junior team, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China.

The teams will be divided into two groups. The best two teams from each group will proceed to the semi-finals.

“Vietnam’s national team will try their best in each match in this tournament. This is a chance for us to test our players for the SEA Games,” said coach Nguyen Quoc Vu.

According to Vu, Vietnam is putting forward a strong team this year. Especially, key players such as Nguyen Linh Chi, Pham Thi Kim Hue, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa, Ha Ngoc Diem and Tran Thi Thanh Thuy are in good form.

35-year-old Hue helped her team, Vietinbank, win the national title for the first time last year. In the first leg of the National Volleyball Championship 2017, she is still one of the best players of the event.

Hoa currently plays for Bangkok Glass of Thailand. She helped the Thai team win the national title in 2015 and 2016, and win the 2015 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship. Last year, Bangkok Glass finished third in the Asian tournament.

Việt Nam hope to defend their silver medal which they won at the Games two years ago in Singapore.

The VTV Cup winner will receive a prize of US$10,000. The runners-up will get US$7,000 and US$5,000, respectively. 

Other individual prizes will be granted to the most valuable player, the most outstanding hitter, the best libero, and a special title for the tournament’s beauty queen. All matches will be broadcast live on the VTV6 channel.

Vietnam have won the event four times, in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2014. Last year, Chonburi of Thailand took the title after defeating Vietnam 3-0 in the final.