Vietnam women's volleyball team debuts: Facing a very strong opponent

At 8:30 p.m. tonight (August 23), the Vietnamese women's volleyball team will play for the first time in the world championship. And the first opponent of coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet and his team is Poland - the world's third-ranked team with a squad of experienced, high-class athletes.

Will Thanh Thuy be pushed to the opposite position to replace Bich Tuyen? - Photo: AVC

The opponent is beyond reach.

With a ranking of 22, the Vietnamese team is still basically among the top teams in the world . But in reality, the level gap between them and Poland is quite far.

First of all, this is the first time the Vietnamese team has participated in the World Championship. As for Poland, this happens too often. Although they have not won the championship, they have finished in the top 4 many times. Up to now, the European representative has won the silver medal once and the bronze medal twice.

In other prestigious tournaments such as the Olympics or the Volleyball Nations League (VNL), Polish women's volleyball has also achieved remarkable results. Poland has always maintained a stable volleyball development. Although it has not had a breakthrough like Italy, Brazil, China or Serbia, Polish women's volleyball has always consistently produced outstanding athletes in the world.

At this Women's Volleyball World Championship, they brought in middle blocker Agnieszka Korneluk - who is 2m tall. Thanks to that, she has a jumping range of up to 3.28m and a blocking range of 3.09m. It is not difficult to find videos online about Korneluk's ability to block the ball "as easily as taking something out of a bag". Many times, she just needs to stand still... waiting for the ball to reach her hand to block.

In addition to Korneluk, Poland also has a team of very tall athletes such as middle blocker Aleksandra Gryka (1.9m), opposite Magdalena Stysiak (2.03m), main blocker Julita Piasecka (1.89m)... It can be seen that Poland is stronger than Vietnam not only in terms of class and experience but also in terms of superior physique and physical strength.

Thanh Thuy will play opposite set?

That is certainly the question that many fans are interested in, not the results or achievements.

The story of Bich Tuyen withdrawing from the tournament has revealed many gaps in the Vietnamese women's team. In theory, coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet only brought to Thailand one setter, Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh. The starting position will almost certainly belong to the girl from the Information Corps team.

But Kieu Trinh is not a physically fit athlete. And she also does not possess the destructive smashes like Bich Tuyen. Therefore, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team needs to have a backup plan.

Therefore, it is not impossible that coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet will arrange Thanh Thuy to play in this role. Previously, the captain of the Vietnamese team was asked to play opposite set at the PFU BlueCats Club (Japan). And there have been a number of matches in which Thanh Thuy performed well in her opposite set role.

So she has some experience. Besides, in the world, it is not rare for a main attacker to be sent to play opposite sets. But the question is, who will replace Thanh Thuy as main attacker?

The answer is really difficult, because recently it can be seen that Nguyen Thi Uyen was assigned the main task of catching the first step.

The two remaining hitters, Vi Thi Nhu Quynh and Nguyen Thi Phuong, will probably replace Thanh Thuy. However, although they sometimes play well and explosively, they still cannot reach the same level as Thanh Thuy.

DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tuyen-bong-chuyen-nu-viet-nam-ra-quan-doi-mat-doi-thu-cuc-manh-20250823104559655.htm