Vietnam women's volleyball team beat Korea at Asiad 19

From a two-set deficit, Vietnam came back to beat South Korea 3-2 in Group C of the 19th Asian Games women's volleyball - similar to what happened at the Asian Championship.

The Korean women's volleyball team is ranked only behind Japan, China and Thailand in Asia. In the FIVB world rankings, they are ranked 35th, 12 places higher than Vietnam. But in the two most recent confrontations, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet and his team caused shock. At the end of August at the Asian Championship, Vietnam was behind by two sets before winning with the scores of 22-25, 19-22, 25-23, 25-17 and 15-13.

In this reunion, Korea continued to enter the match strongly, winning 25-16, 25-22 in the first two sets. Kang Soh-wi and Park Jeong-ah were still the spearheads of the Korean team, while Vietnam kept making mistakes in the first set.

Captain Tran Thi Thanh Thuy (blue shirt, right) scored 24 points against Korea.

However, from the third and fourth sets, adjustments helped Vietnam significantly improve their weaknesses, winning with the same score of 25-22. In the fifth set, the two teams fought for each point. At the 11-11 mark, Vietnam scored four points in a row to win 15-11.

On an individual basis, captain Tran Thi Thanh Thuy is still Vietnam's number one hitter with 24 points. Tran Thi Bich Thuy also excelled with 17 points, while Tran Tu Linh and Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh contributed 14 and 13 points respectively.

After the match, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet said that in addition to the first step problem, Lam Oanh's second setter position was psychologically causing Vietnam to lose ground when entering the match. In the last three sets, she did well the task assigned by the coaching staff. Vietnam focused the ball on the second corner (right), because according to analysis during the match, this was the position where the home team scored more points.

"In tense matches like this, the difference between winning and losing is only one or two goals," said Mr. Kiet. "The setter cannot act on inspiration, he has to observe the opponent's block to calculate the timing."

The comeback against South Korea helped Vietnam secure the top spot in Group C in the first round, having beaten Nepal 3-0 yesterday, September 30. In the second round, the team will be in Group E with three opponents, including the second place team in Group C, which is likely to be South Korea, and the two top teams in Group A, which are predicted to be the hosts, China and North Korea.

Coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet (left) expects Vietnam to be in the top four of women's volleyball at the 19th Asian Games.

In the second round, Vietnam did not play against South Korea but kept the same result as in the first round, which means they have half a ticket to the semi-finals. Regarding the two remaining opponents, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet assessed that China is much better in terms of skill, so the team will focus on the match against North Korea. The opponent brought a young squad with half born after 2001 to the 19th Asiad. The excellent striker Jong Jin-sim did not participate, but Kim Hyon-ju is a name to watch. The striker born in 2002 is 1.82 m tall and just scored 30 points in the 3-1 win over India.

Vietnam has the advantage of two days off before the first match of the second round on October 4. In the history of Asiad, Vietnamese volleyball has never reached the semi-finals. Therefore, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet and his team are standing on the threshold of history.

Hieu Luong

Vnexpress.net