QUANG TRI (VNS) — Five foreign teams will take part in the ninth VTV-Binh Dien International Women's Volleyball Tournament that will be held in Quang Tri Province from March 21 to 29.

The foreign teams are Club 4.25 from North Korea, the Fujian club from China, Kazakhstan's Astana and Japan's Tenri University's team, besides a Malaysian team.

The US$43,000 nine-day competition will also feature four domestic teams, which are Tien Nong Thanh Hoa, VTV-Binh Dien Long An, LienVietPostBank Information and Vietinbank.

According to the draw, Group A consists of VTV-Binh Dien Long An, Thanh Hoa, Club 4.25, Tenri and Malaysia. Group B comprises LienVietPostBank Information, Vietinbank, Astana and Fujian.

The competition will take place in a round-robin format, and the top two teams from each group will advance to the semi-final round.

The winning team will receive $15,000, while the runners-up will get $10,000 and $6,000, respectively. Several individual awards, worth $500 each, will be also given during the tournament.

All the matches at the event will be broadcast live on VTV6, VTV9 and Quang Tri Radio and Television.

Last year, LienVietPostBank Information triumphed in the tourney which made its debut in 2004. — VNS