Volleyball 

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam are ready to take on Thailand in the second stage of the regional SEA V.League 2024 volleyball tournament which will be from August 9-11 in Nakhon Ratchasima.

Following the regulation, national teams of Việt Nam, Indonesia, the Philippines and the hosts will compete in a round robin format with the top one taking the trophy.

In the second stage, the organisers also hold an event for three teams of Singapore, Malaysia and Nakhon Ratchasima Club. They also play with the same format and have their own ranking.

There is only one change to coach Nguyễn Tuấn Kiệt's line-up, as his captain Trần Thị Thanh Thúy will not be joining the team because she will be with her new club Kuzeyboru, in Turkey.

Hitter Nguyễn Thị Trà My replaces her in the team, while the captaincy is given to spiker Nguyễn Thị Bích Tuyền, who was one of the top ten scorers at the first stage last week in Vĩnh Phúc Province in Việt Nam.

After three matches Tuyền scored 81 points, leaving her nearest rival Chatchu-On Moskri of Thailand far behind with 52 points. She was voted Best Opposite Spiker.

Speaking to reporters about Việt Nam's preparations, coach Kiệt confirmed that Thailand were still the biggest hurdle on the way to victory for his team.

Việt Nam lost 2-3 to Thailand in the gold-medal match but it was the first time that the team could secure two set wins over the world-level Thailand in history.

"My players have showed their remarkable progress through international competitions. It was seen clearly in the match against Thailand in the league's first stage. It was a regrettable defeat but Thailand were still at a higher level than Việt Nam," said Kiệt.

"We could not overcome them in a short period without preparation. There were still problems in our team especially their lack of international competition experience that leads to mistakes."

Kiệt said a setter position was also a weak point in the team. The coaching board recognised that and would have suitable plan to improve players' quality.

"We can see that the gap between Thailand and Việt Nam has been narrowed a lot, however, they are still a big challenge to us," said Kiệt.

"They will keep closer eyes on us after witnessing our rising last week, meanwhile being the hosts they would receive strong local support. They will definitely create major pressure on us."

On her side, spiker Tuyền said Vietnamese players must upgrade their blockings and defence abilities that would help them to have positive results.

"Việt Nam played well in the first stage but we lacked a bit of luck in the last match's final set to beat Thailand for gold. If we have better blocking and defensive capacity the result would be different," said Tuyền.

"The second leg will be more difficult when we have no more home support. We will have to strive harder applying what we have learnt from the first match for a good result." VNS