Vietnam men's volleyball team competes in Japan

If VTV Binh Dien Long An received a fairly easy draw when participating in the AVC Women's Champions League 2 weeks ago, the Vietnamese representative Sport Center 3 fell into a very difficult group in the playground for men's clubs.

Reunion after 6 years

Similar to the women's tournament, the Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship will officially be called the AVC Men's Champions League from 2025, replacing the old name AVC Men's Club Championship. This year's tournament will be held from May 11 to 18 in Kyoto, Japan.

The top 12 men's clubs not only compete for the highest rankings, but also, through these results, select the first and second teams to represent Asia in the World Men's Club Volleyball Championship organized by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB, now Volleyball World).

After 6 years, Vietnamese men's volleyball returned to the Asian club level. In 2019, Ho Chi Minh City Club, as the reigning national champion, participated in the tournament in Taiwan (China) and ranked 7th out of 14 participating teams.

Bóng chuyền nam Việt Nam đọ sức tại Nhật Bản- Ảnh 1. — Sport Center 3 players (in yellow shirts) are ready to compete with their opponents. Photo: AVC

This time, the national team - with the name Sport Center 3 - will compete with the slot of the 2024 Vietnam champion, Bien Phong Club. The team's goal is to find opportunities to compete and prepare best for important tournaments of the year, including the AVC Nations Cup, SEA V-League and especially the 33rd SEA Games.

At the tournament in Japan, Sport Center 3 was placed in Group D with Al Rayyan (Qatar) and Al Muhharraq (Bahrain). In theory, coach Tran Dinh Tien's team has the right to dream of reaching the quarter-finals because they only need to win one match to achieve the set target. However, reality will prove that Sport Center 3's journey to participate in this continental playground is not simple at all.

The ultimate battle

The 2025 AVC Men's Champions League allows each team to recruit up to 3 foreign players; all foreign players can be used in the lineup at any time. This regulation not only promises to bring more appeal to men's volleyball - which is already very attractive because of its speed and strength - but also creates opportunities for teams with enough financial potential to conquer the highest rankings.

Al Muhharraq is the most successful team in Bahrain with 16 national championships. A few days before leaving for Japan to compete in the tournament, this 3-year-old national champion (2023, 2024, 2025) also won the Prince's Volleyball Cup, affirming their unique position in the Bahraini volleyball world.

Not only possessing a balanced force with high-quality domestic players, Al Muhharraq's strength is also multiplied by the presence of 3 "huge" foreign players: Alex Ferreira (Portugal, 2.02 m tall), Jacob Link (Sweden, 1.97 m) and Van Maarten (Netherlands, 2 m).

Meanwhile, Al Rayyan's achievements are also very impressive with 12 Qatar championships, including 3 championships in the last 4 years. The team led by coach Luis Cunha also has 3 formidable foreign players: Keita Noumory (Mali, 2.02 m tall), Abdel Nimir (Netherlands, 2.02 m) and Costa Marcus (Brazil, 1.94 m).

Overcoming these two rich teams from the Gulf region is not an easy task for Sport Center 3, even though the Vietnamese players under coach Tran Dinh Tien have played together for a long time. Not to mention, they are all the most typical faces from the Border Guard Club, Ho Chi Minh City Police, Ho Chi Minh City team, Khanh Hoa ...

If a ticket to the quarterfinals or further is not a feasible goal, Sport Center 3 can still look forward to this top tournament as an opportunity to compete and learn to improve their skills and gain experience for other important tournaments of the year for Vietnamese men's volleyball.

Gathering many stars

Unlike the women's tournament that ended a few weeks ago, the men's AVC Champions League is a playground with extremely high professional quality. The tournament brings together many strong clubs from countries with leading volleyball in Asia such as: Japan, China, Iran, Australia, Thailand...

Fans will be eagerly watching this playground with the presence of world-class stars. Among them, Shanghai Club (China) recruited 2 Polish stars, Wilfredo Leon and Michal Kubiak. Suntory Sunbirds Osaka (Japan) owns a "huge" squad of strikers such as Aleksander Sliwka (Poland), Dmitriy Muserskiy (Russia, 2.18 m tall), Alain Dearmas (Cuba).

Meanwhile, Foolad Srijan owns many members of the Iranian team. This is also the country that dominates this tournament when their clubs have won the championship 17 times in 24 seasons.

According to the match schedule, Sport Center 3 will meet Al Muhharraq on May 12 and Al Rayyan on May 13.

AVC Champions League Groups

Group A: Suntory Sunbirds Osaka (Japan), Queensland Pirates (Australia), Aqtobe VC (Kazakhstan).

Group B: Osaka Blueteon (Japan), Shanghai Bright VC (China), Cignal Spikers (Philippines).

Group C: Foolad Srijan (Iran), Taichung Bank (Taiwan - China), Nakhon Ratchasima (Thailand).

Group D: Sport Center 3 (Vietnam), Al Rayyan (Qatar), Al Muhharraq (Bahrain).