What strengths of Vietnam does the Thai volleyball coach fear?

Thailand's volleyball coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai has given his assessment of their Vietnamese opponents ahead of the SEA Games 33 women's volleyball final, which takes place at 5:30 PM today (December 15).

Head coach of the Thai women's volleyball team - Photo: KHAOSOD

"Height, it's all about height and strength," coach Kiattipong Radchatagriengkai – often affectionately known as "coach Aod" – replied when asked by the media ahead of the women's volleyball final against Vietnam.

"The match will not be easy. I've always known that the Vietnamese girls are very tall and very strong. So I tried to rotate the lineup in the semi-final against Indonesia, so that the younger athletes could build up more confidence before the match against Vietnam. The final will certainly not be easy," Khaosod newspaper quoted coach Kiattipong as saying.

Now 59 years old, "Coach Aod" is considered a legendary coach of Thai women's volleyball. From 1998 to 2016, Kiattipong led the Thai women's volleyball team for 18 years, winning every possible gold medal at the SEA Games during that period.

Since 2016, coach Kiattipong decided to move into management. However, the declining performance of the Thai women's volleyball team led the Thai Volleyball Federation (TVA) to invite him back two years ago.

In the 2025 SEA V.League, for the first time in his career, coach Kiattipong suffered a defeat while leading the Thai national team against Vietnam.

Coach Kiattipong's concerns about the superior height of the Vietnamese volleyball team are well-founded.

The current Vietnamese women's volleyball team includes one player over 1.90m tall, Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, along with four other players over 1.80m tall: Le Thanh Thuy, Bich Thuy, Luu Thi Hue, and Nguyen Thi Uyen.

Thailand is also not far behind in terms of average height. At the 2025 Women's Volleyball World Championship, both Thailand and Vietnam will have an average height of around 177cm.

However, Thailand lacks a star attacker with exceptional height like Thanh Thúy. The tallest player on the Thai team is middle blocker Thatdao Nuekjang, who is 1.86m tall.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/hlv-tuyen-bong-chuyen-thai-lan-lo-ngai-diem-manh-nao-cua-viet-nam-20251215070809545.htm