Big challenge for Vietnamese women's volleyball: Team meets formidable opponent, U.21 overcomes rapids

In their first participation in the Women's Volleyball World Championship taking place from August 22 to September 7 in Thailand, the Vietnamese team is in Group G with Poland, Germany, and Kenya.

Women's volleyball team faces extremely strong opponent

Since the draw (November 2024) until now, Poland and Vietnam are the two teams with significant progress. Poland rose from 6th to 3rd in the world , while the Vietnamese team jumped from 33rd to 22nd.

The Polish team has a squad of "top-class" hitters at the peak of their careers such as Magdalena Stysiak (24 years old, 2.03 m tall), Aleksandra Gryka (25 years old, 1.9 m tall), Karolina Drukowska (23 years old, 1.94 m tall)... This opponent is not only considered the strongest in the group but also a candidate to compete for the championship title. The German team (ranked 11th in the world) also has a stable force, having defeated the Thai team 3-0 in the 2025 Nations League. Both Germany and Poland are superior to the Vietnamese team.

Vietnam women's volleyball team faces very strong opponent at world championship

Photo: SAVA

In Group G, the opponent considered the most suitable for the Vietnamese team is Kenya. The African team is no stranger to coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet and his team because 2 years ago, Kenya defeated the Vietnamese team with a score of 2-0 in a friendly match in France at the FIVB Challenge tournament.

In preparation for the 2025 World Cup, the Kenyan team and the Spanish team will come to Vietnam for training. At 7 p.m. tomorrow, August 16, at Dong Anh Stadium ( Hanoi ), the Vietnamese team will play a friendly match with Kenya; and on August 17, they will play a friendly match with the Spanish team.

Coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet said that the Women's Volleyball World Championship has the participation of all the world's top teams. Therefore, the Vietnamese team participated in the tournament with the goal of learning and gaining more skills and experience.

"There is no pressure to achieve results at the world tournament, but the Vietnamese team also has its own goal: each individual player can maximize their ability when competing on the field. The Vietnamese team is fortunate to have a generation of players at the peak of their careers, who understand each other both on the field and in life. They have made commendable progress over the past 2 years and have achieved certain international achievements. The whole team will make the greatest effort at the world tournament to gain momentum in training to prepare for the most important goal in 2025, which is to compete for the gold medal at the 33rd SEA Games in December in Thailand," coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet shared.

U.21 Vietnamese women overcome storms

Meanwhile, at the U.21 Women's Volleyball World Cup taking place in Indonesia, the Vietnam U.21 team is facing personnel difficulties.

U.21 Vietnam at the U.21 World Cup

The team was punished by the International Volleyball Federation for losing 4 matches in the group stage, eliminating 1 key player and the Vietnam Volleyball Federation is still in the process of appealing. However, the U.21 Vietnam women's team has not stopped trying. After defeating U.21 Egypt with a score of 3-1, today, August 15, coach Nguyen Trong Linh's students will face the U.21 Chile team in the match for the 17th to 20th place. The opponent from South America possesses many powerful hitters, but the U.21 Vietnam team with talented young players such as Le Thuy Linh, Bui Thi Anh Thao, Nguyen Phuong Quynh, Pham Quynh Huong, Lai Thi Khanh Huyen... is ready to create an explosive match.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thach-thuc-lon-cho-bong-chuyen-nu-viet-nam-doi-tuyen-gap-doi-thu-khung-u21-vuot-thac-1852508142118268.htm