Vietnamese women's volleyball: Needs higher goals.

Winning the AVC Nations Cup (formerly the AVC Challenge Cup) for three consecutive years demonstrates that the Vietnamese women's volleyball team is at a superior level compared to the other teams.

Winning the AVC Nations Cup 2025 shows that the Vietnamese women's team is superior to their opponents - Photo: NGOC LE

While in 2023 and 2024, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's team faced some difficulties in winning the championship, this year they dominated completely, to the point that the result was already known before the match even started.

Lack of competitiveness

The Vietnamese women's volleyball team's third consecutive championship title demonstrates a strong transformation after a long period of poor performance in international competitions. However, it's also necessary to acknowledge the reality that the AVC Nations Cup is gradually losing its competitiveness.

Theoretically, before the tournament, there were four teams considered to be of nearly equal skill level competing for the championship: Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Philippines, and Indonesia. However, in reality, Indonesia did not bring their strongest squad to the tournament.

Kazakhstan is increasingly declining with a new generation of young but inexperienced athletes. Meanwhile, the Philippines, a team that takes the competition seriously, lacks the skill to compete with Vietnam's Bich Tuyen, Thanh Thuy, and Bich Thuy.

The AVC Nations Cup is essentially a second-tier competition in Asia, similar to the Europa League in football. In previous years, the winner of this tournament earned a ticket to the FIVB Challenger Cup.

This year, both the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and the Asian Volleyball Federation (AVC) have changed many formats and eliminated the FIVB Challenger Cup. Therefore, the prize for the AVC Nations Cup champion is now simply a ticket to the 2026 Asian Championship. For teams like Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Indonesia, or even Chinese Taipei, this is too easy. Perhaps this is why the AVC Nations Cup is gradually losing its appeal.

Vietnamese volleyball needs a higher level competition than the AVC Nations Cup - Photo: TTO

We need a new playground.

It remains to be seen whether the AVC Nations Cup will undergo any significant changes next year. However, if the tournament continues as it is, perhaps the Vietnamese women's volleyball team needs to aim for new, higher-level, and more competitive competitions.

But that's not easy. When the FIVB Challenger Cup was abolished, the only higher-level tournament in the annual competition system was the Volleyball Nations League (VNL). That's where the world's top teams compete.

If the Vietnamese women's volleyball team gets to compete in this tournament, they will have the opportunity to gain experience and hone their skills. This is something Thailand has been doing for many years. Although they often lose to stronger teams, the skill level of Thai athletes has improved significantly.

But qualifying for the VNL is not easy. According to the new format implemented this year, the tournament has 18 participating teams. The team that finishes last at the end of the season will be eliminated the following year. The replacement team will be the highest-ranked team in the world rankings that did not qualify for this year's VNL.

This means that to qualify for this tournament, the Vietnamese team must be at least in the top 18 in the world. But reaching that ranking is not easy. After the recent AVC Nations Cup, despite winning convincingly, the Vietnamese women's team only managed to climb to 25th place (their highest ranking in history). Therefore, the Vietnamese girls need a lot of time to accumulate enough points to move up to higher rankings.

The team will soon be participating in the Women's Volleyball World Championship for the first time in August. This is a major competition, an opportunity for the whole team to learn from experience and look towards the future.

DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-chuyen-nu-viet-nam-can-muc-tieu-cao-hon-20250617111327842.htm