Vinh Phuc, Vietnam, April 29, 2023 – Gunning for making the podium for the first time ever, Sport Center 1 became the only team undefeated in the 2023 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Vinh Phuc Gymnasium while outplaying King Whale Taipei on Saturday to storm into the semifinals as the Pool A winners.
Tran Thi Thanh Thuy chipped in with 17 points including 13 attacks for Sport Center 1, while Tran Tu Linh and Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh added 10 points apiece. Flavio De Carvalho Beatriz scored a match-high 24 points including 23 attacks for King Whale Taipei.
Sport Center 1, fielding all Vietnam national team players in their final preparation for the next week’s 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA)) Games in Cambodia, pulled off stunning 3-1 (25-12, 25-23, 20-25, 25-23) victory against the Chinese Taipei side in their last preliminary Pool A clash, stretching their unbeaten record to three wins in a row in the continent’s topflight club championship. However, Sport Center 1 and King Whale Taipei both advanced to the cross semifinals due to be held on Monday.
In an eagerly-anticipated match to determine the Pool A winners on Saturday, Sport Center 1 fielded a strong lineup spearheaded by hard-hitting Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, who has been playing professionally in the Japan V. League Division 1 with PFU Blue Cats, while King Whale Taipei remained strong, with Wu Fang-Yu, Lin She-Ho and Flavio De Carvalho Beatriz from Brazil the backbone of the team.
The 3,000-seater competition hall was filled to its seating capacity on Saturday as thousands of home fans turned out to cheer their team. Sport Center 1 made a strong start in the first set, with Thanh Thuy overpowering the small blockers with her spectacular attacks and the 184cm-tall Tran Thi Bich Thuy and Tran Tu Ninh, 179cm, producing solid blocks to help the host side race to the commanding lead with a surprise 11-point clear at 15-4.
King Whale Taipei tried to hit back, but the Vietnamese side performed superbly as they intensified their defence, allowing the rivals difficult scoring opportunities and at the same time entertained their cheering home fans with their gutsy display to win the one-sided set 25-12.
Conceding one set, King Whale Taipei upped their tempo in the second set. Lin Shu-Ho and Carvalho Beatriz steered the visitors to the initial 9-5 lead with their powerful cross-court attacks, but Sport Center 1 gradually pulled their game together and storm back to level it at 15-15, extending it to 24-21. Back-to-back points from Carvalho Beatriz moved King Whale Taipei to narrow the margin 23-23, but chants and cheers turned home fans hoarse with great joy when Ly Thi Luyen produced an effective drop shot in front of the net to help the host side take the hard-fought set 25-23.
In the third set, King Whale Taipei gained the upper hand to take control. They led 5-2 and stretched it to 11-10 and again 20-16, courtesy of their improved teamwork and effective blocks. Sport Center 1 regrouped and bounced back, but their attempted comebacks were denied. The strong visitors continued their attacks to clinch the set 25-20.
Both teams fought neck and neck in the fourth set to level it at 13-13 and again at 23-23. Tran Tu Linh scored two points in a row for Sport Center 1, the first one she successfully blocked a powerful attack from Carvalho Beatriz and another one her spike went wide, but touched by the opponents. The Vietnamese team captured the set 25-23 and match.
King Whale Taipei head coach Teng Yen-Min commented on her team, “We did not focus much on this match because both sides had already secured their spots in the semifinals. It’s the last match in Pool A to decide the Pool winners. However, the problem is that Tsai Qin-Yao, one of our key players got injured. As we are moving into the most important round in the semifinals, I just hope that every player in my team will be kept healthy and injury-free.
“Now we have two key players who sustained injuries with the first one Gabi injuring her right ankle. However, we are working on it and hope she will be fine ahead of the semifinals. She is well recovering now. The player No.13 Tsai Qin-Yao today stepped on the other player’s foot, but it’s not a serious injury. I think she can play in the semifinals. I hope we can play a rematch with Sport Center 1 in the final. In the first set today, we were poor on reception, while the other side attacked well and in the second set we tried to come back, but could not make it. We took the third set, but again we made more mistakes in the fourth set. That’s why we lost.
“We next take on Diamond Food in the semifinals. The Thai team play fast with speed like us and it seems we are similar teams like the way we play. So, hopefully we can qualify for the final. Regarding our preparation for this championship, we trained only one week together. We had several games including Taiwan Enterprise League, top professional league in our country, and the University Games before this championship. We got some players from both tournaments and trained together only one week for this championship. I hope we can get better and better, but we still have a lot of things to improve.”
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