Jiangmen, China, July 8, 2024 – Vietnam played one of their near-flawless performances to capture an exceptional straight-set 25-17, 25-19, 25-15 win against Chinese Taipei in the 5th-6th playoff match in the 22nd Asian Women’s U20 Volleyball Championship at the Jiangmen Sports Center Gymnasium here on Monday.
Outside hitter Dang Thi Hong delivered a match-high 22 points from 17 kills and 5 aces for Vietnam, while Chang Yi-Chi chipped in 16 points including 15 attacks from 38 attempts on the Chinese Taipei’s loss.
Chinese Taipei made a solid start in the first set to take an initial 3-0 lead before Vietnam counter-attacked heavily, with Dang Thi Hong unleashing a barrage of powerful attacks and Bui Thi Anh Thao and Pham Quynh Huong blocking solidly to help the team catch the opponents at 9-9 and stormed on with their excellent combinations and consistency. Chinese Taipei tried to make a comeback, with Hsu Fang-Min, Chang Yi-Chi and Hsu Heng-Yun joining forces in the team’s offense and gained some points. However, Vietnam defended exceptionally well to foil all the opponents’ efforts. Vietnam took the comfortable first set 25-17.
Conceding one set, Chinese Taipei stayed more focused in the second set. They fought back hard, hoping to make amends for the first-set loss and they led from the very beginning of the set to stay in front 13-9. But, the Vietnamese hit back to reduce the gap 15-17 and forged ahead 18-17, thanks to powerful jump serves by Dang Thi Hong. While the on-going battle was very intense and Chinese Taipei’s good form started to fade off fast to trail behind at 17-21, their key player Hsu Fang Min sustained a right knee injury following a clash with teammates while attempting to retrieve attack hits from Vietnam. She left the court and was sidelined since then.
After that, Chinese Taipei dropped from their best and became more prone with unforced attacking mistakes. Vietnam held firm in their solid defence to win the second set 25-19.
The third set turned out to be one-way traffic as Vietnam played every part of the game well and attacked devastatingly from all angles. Leading 7-1 for good, the Vietnamese came up in full force to win the easy set 25-15, match and the fifth position in this championship.
The Vietnam’s fifth-place finish in Jiangmen was not their best performance since their first appearance in 1996 in Thailand. In 2016 in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, Vietnam came in fourth place, their best-ever performance in this age category. As top four teams from this championship will qualify for the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U21 World Championship, except China, which have already qualified as current world champions, Vietnam are likely to make the cut for the next year’s world meet for the first time in history.
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