Has Vietnamese women's volleyball really reached world class?

There is a series of facts showing that Vietnamese women's volleyball has truly reached world class, from competition results to expert assessments.

Thanh Thuy is considered the 14th best female player in the world in 2025 - Photo: VAT

Do the numbers lie?

Just half a day after the Vietnamese team made a historic victory over Thailand on August 10 to win the second round of SEA V.League 2025, volleyball website Volleybox updated the rankings of the best athletes of the year - based on collective and individual achievements.

Surprisingly, there are 4 Vietnamese girls in the top 100 of this ranking. They are Tran Thi Thanh Thuy - ranked 14th (327.85 points), Nguyen Khanh Dang - ranked 27th (235.25 points), Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen - ranked 85th (169.25 points) and Vi Thi Nhu Quynh - ranked 86th (169 points).

It is important to know that Volleybox is highly regarded for its reputation in the top volleyball world, similar to Transfermarkt in football, both are sites closely related to player transfers and valuations...

And this site ranks players based on both team and individual achievements. For example, Bich Tuyen, after winning the SEA V.League, gained 25 more points - with 10 from the team championship title and 15 from the individual title of "best passer".

That's on an individual level, but on a collective level, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team has risen to 22nd in the world, just 1 place behind Thailand.

Khanh Dang is also in the world's top - Photo: VAT

Vietnam is now aiming to enter the top 18 - the group that can receive a ticket to participate in VNL next season. The gap with this group is about 30 points, a number that is difficult to achieve when Vietnam's next tournament is the 2025 World Championship.

But if they continue to persevere, it is not impossible that Vietnam will soon qualify for the ranking next year. Just maintaining their form in arenas like the AVC Nations Cup can bring a lot of points, while teams above them like Thailand are likely to be relegated due to defeat in the VNL.

Are the numbers lying? Unfortunately, in this case, the numbers probably... aren't really lying.

Be sober with the numbers

Even the most confident Vietnamese fans probably wouldn't dare dream that Thanh Thuy is actually the 14th best female player in the world, even if only counting in 2025.

According to Volleybox's rankings, the girl from Binh Duong even ranks above the world's top superstars such as Karakurt (Turkey), Kudiess (Binh Duong)..., and higher than all the Japanese stars.

Why is Thanh Thuy ranked so high? Simply because she participated in and won a series of small tournaments (compared to world class) such as VTV Cup (champion, 8 points), Hoa Lu Cup (3 points), Hung Vuong Cup (3 points), AVC Nations Cup (17.5 points)...

Thanh Thuy's breakthrough, as well as Khanh Dang's in 2025, came from winning the runner-up position in the AVC Champions League - a tournament known as the top of the continent, but completely absent Japanese representatives in 2025.

The way volleyball tournaments are organized in the world has long been controversial, with the world's top-class playgrounds overlapping with smaller playgrounds.

Vietnamese athletes are far ahead of Thailand in terms of score - Photo: VAT

And once they choose to participate in high-level competitions, volleyball teams (and their players) cannot reap the rewards of lower-level competitions.

A typical example is Thailand, they are participating in VNL so they skip AVC Nations Cup (a tournament that Vietnam has won consecutively in recent years).

But at VNL, Thailand almost only received minus points, when continuously losing to the world's top opponents.

Then when returning to SEA V.League, Thailand also did not get points from their achievements in this tournament (even though they won stage 1, won 2/3 matches in stage 2) due to FIVB (International Volleyball Federation) regulations.

FIVB's rules and tournament organization leave large gaps in the scoring system. Strong teams participate in major tournaments and compete regularly, but the downside is that it is difficult to gain points compared to participating in lower-level tournaments.

With this momentum, it is likely that Vietnamese volleyball will continue to climb high in the world rankings in 2026.

But only when they actually enter the VNL playground, a tournament that regularly creates opportunities for Thanh Thuy and Bich Tuyen to face top superstars from Italy, the US, Brazil, Japan..., can fans attest to the true class of Vietnamese volleyball.

 

HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/bong-chuyen-nu-viet-nam-da-thuc-su-dat-dang-cap-the-gioi-2025081121554058.htm