Vinh Phuc Gymnasium, the competition venue for the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Championship early this year, becomes a battleground for the three-day tournament
Just one week after the two-leg, four-team Southeast Asian Men’s Volleyball League (SEA V. League) came to a close in Philippines with Indonesia winning back-to-back titles, volleyball enthusiasts are now turning their attention to the dispute for gold medal among the women’s quartet.
Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Philippines will compete in the third edition of the SEA V. League (formerly known as Asean Grand Prix), with Thailand, the world No.15 and consecutive 14-time Southeast Asian Games gold medallists, back to defend their titles achieved in both editions.
The women’s event will be split into two legs, with the first one being held from August 4 to 6 at Vinh Phuc Gymnasium in Vietnam, the competition venue for the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Championship, which was won by Vietnam women’s national team played under the Sport Center 1’s banner.
The second leg will take place between August 11 and 13 at the 3,000-seater gymnasium inside the 700th Anniversary Chiang Mai Sports Complex in Chiang Mai, a captivating city nestled in the scenic mountains of Northern Thailand with an approximate distance of 700km north of Bangkok.
In the inaugural edition in 2019, Thailand stamped their authority in the first leg on home soil in Nakhon Ratchasima, followed by Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam.
The second leg on the same year in Santa Rosa, Philippines saw Thailand repeat the similar feat, while the following positions remained unchanged with Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam coming in second, third and fourth places respectively.
Only one leg was held in the second edition in Nakhon Ratchasima in 2022. Hosts Thailand still proved too strong for their lower-ranked opponents to reign supreme, while hard-hitting Tran Thi Thanh Thuy steered Vietnam to the second-place finish. Indonesia came in third place, with Philippines in fourth position.
In the third edition this time, the Thailand team remained strong with the likes of six key players who in the previous season had competed in overseas leagues: Chatchu-On Moksri and Ajcharaporn Kongyot from Turkish League, Pimpichaya Kokram, Thatdao Nuekjang and Thanacha Sooksod from Japan League and setter Pornpun Guedpard, who made her presence felt in Romania.
For the Thailand team, the SEA V. League campaign serves as the tune-up matches in their final preparations for the following three major competitions consisting of the 22nd Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship at home in Nakhon Ratchasima between August 30 and September 6, the Road to Paris Volleyball Qualifier (Olympic Qualification Tournament Women’s Pool C) from September 16 to 24 and the Asian Games Women’s Volleyball Tournament in Hangzhou, China from September 28 to October 7.
Philippines will be sending its National University (NU) Lady Bulldogs-laden national team, led by Mhicaela Belen, the UAAP Season 84 Rookie-MVP, and Alyssa Solomon, Best Opposite Spiker. The squad also include Camilla Lamina, Shaira Jardio, Minierva Maaya and Evangeline Alinsug. Despite sending a young team, Philippine National Volleyball Federation President Mr Ramon Suzara said in a recent news release on the federation’s website volleyballphilippines.com that the PNVF are investing this young team for the future of the federation’s national team program.
Indonesia is sending a strong team mixed between players from the silver-winning team in the recent AVC Challenge Cup on home soil and young talents. However, the team will be competing without their star spiker Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi, who landed the Best Opposite Spiker award at the AVC Challenge Cup.
Vietnam, current world No.47 and AVC Challenge Cup champions fresh from winning 8th position at the recent Laval-hosted FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup in France, will be led by ace spiker Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, who took the Best Outside Spiker and MVP awards at the AVC Challenge Cup in Indonesia.
Regarding the daily matches in the first leg in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam from August 4 to 6, the first match will commence at 4pm local time, with the second encounter taking place at 7pm.
On Friday, the first day of the tournament, Thailand will kick off their title defence against Indonesia, followed by the match between Vietnam and Philippines. The following day sees Thailand take on Philippines, with hosts Vietnam challenging Indonesia. The final day of the single round-robin tournament on Sunday sees Philippines meet Indonesia and Thailand face off against Vietnam.
At conclusion of the three-day tournament, the team with the best performance will be crowned champions. The remaining teams will claim the respective second, third and fourth places up to their overall performances in Vinh Phuc.
To make sure all is set for the single round-robin competition, the General Technical Meeting was held at DIC Star Hotels & Resorts in Vinh Phuc on Thursday, with Technical Delegate Mr Nguyen Ba Nghi from Vietnam and Referee Delegate Mr Jirasak Kasemsook from Thailand jointly presiding.
Staff coaches and team managers of four participating teams as well as local organisers and accompanying referees to officiate in this tournament also attended the meeting to be informed of relevant rules of the game and refereeing matters.
Hosts Vietnam also held the Welcome Dinner for all participating teams at the hotel, with Mr Le Tri Truong, Secretary General of the Volleyball Federation of Vietnam, and Mr Bui Hong Do, both of them Co-Chairman of the Organizing Committee, jointly presiding. On the same occasion, team captains each received a bouquet of flowers.
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