Vietnam U21 Women's Volleyball Team: An Emotional Journey

The Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team has concluded a stormy yet memorable journey at the 2025 U21 Women's Volleyball World Cup.

Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team impresses at world tournament - Photo: VOLLEYBALL WORLD

On August 18, the whole team returned home, completing their mission of participating in the world arena for the first time.

Opportunity to improve

The recorded achievement of the Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team in the tournament was 3 wins, 5 losses, ranking 19th out of 24 teams.

But that was the result after the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) ruled that they had lost a number of matches. If the results were kept, the exact record of the U21 Vietnam team would be 6 wins, 2 losses. They could even be in the top 16 teams. The decision to lose has pushed coach Nguyen Trong Linh's team down to their current ranking.

But putting aside the problems, this was still a successful tournament for the Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team. In addition to the results, they left many clear impressions. For the first time stepping onto a large-scale playing field, the Vietnamese girls demonstrated their resilience. Many times in this tournament, a strong mentality helped them overcome countless difficulties both on and off the field.

The next bright spot is the young faces playing excellently. That is the main striker Pham Quynh Huong - who scored 62 points in the tournament. This number is only counted in the matches of U21 Vietnam that were not annulled - a very good performance for a young player.

Bui Thi Anh Thao also stood out with 57 points, despite having to play as a reserve for a while. It is worth noting that Pham Quynh Huong is only 17 years old, Anh Thao is only 16, and the remaining athletes are only around 20 years old. Through this tournament, they have been trained in all aspects and could be the next generation of the national team in the future.

There are still weaknesses that need to be overcome.

It is an eternal story of Vietnamese volleyball: catching the first step. It is difficult to blame the young girls when even experienced seniors like Thanh Thuy are prone to making this mistake.

This raises questions about youth training. Is it time to find new training methods? Fans have suggested buying a ball-shooting machine, or using a method like Japan did, which is to have female athletes practice against... male athletes.

The issue of physique and physical strength also needs to be noted. Pham Quynh Huong is the one with the most impressive height at 1.85m. But the remaining group is not really impressive in terms of physique. Almost only the opposing player Ngo Thi Bich Hue has a relatively stable height (1.79m), the rest of the main athletes are only around 1.70m.

The current national team has a squad of athletes with very good heights such as Thanh Thuy (1.9m), Bich Tuyen (1.88m), Bich Thuy (1.85m), Nguyen Thi Trinh (1.81m). Therefore, it would be a pity if this young generation falls behind in height. Physical fitness is also something that needs to be improved.

Remember in football, the effect of having a team participating in the U20 World Cup created a generation like Quang Hai, Van Hau, Hoang Duc, Tien Linh. Hopefully the story of women's volleyball this year will be the same. The athletes of the Vietnam U21 women's volleyball team are still young, still have the opportunity to develop.

So I just hope that the training does not cause them to stagnate, affecting a generation with a lot of potential.

DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-bong-chuyen-nu-u21-viet-nam-hanh-trinh-day-cam-xuc-20250819083754411.htm