Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, May 21, 2017 – Debutantes Vietnam pulled off a stunning straight-set 25-20 25-19 25-19 victory over Chinese Taipei in the 3rd-4th playoff match at the SMM 2nd Asian Women’s U23 Volleyball Championship at The Mall Nakhon Ratchasima’s MCC Hall to claim the historic third place.
Vietnam have never claimed a top-three finish at any Asian competitions. The Vietnam national senior women’s team finished fifth at the 2015 Asian Senior Women’s Championship in Tianjin, China, while their women’s U19 team came within a whisker of taking bronze at the 2016 Asian Women’s U19 Championship, only going down to hosts Thailand 1-3 in the third-place playoff.
Against Chinese Taipei, Vietnam came out in superb form to dominate the whole game defensively and offensively. Tran Thi Thanh Thuy, who stands 187cm tall, handed Vietnam 18 points including 15 kills from 42 attempts, while Chen Tzu-Ya led Chinese Taipei with 15 points.
With the convincing victory, the Vietnamese players danced around, hugged each other and were in happy tears. Vietnam did not take part in the previous edition two years ago in the Philippines, where China were crowned champions after beating Thailand 3-1 in the final showdown.
“I would like to say that I’m extremely happy for my team’s win today. My players came up with great form beyond my expectation. We trained only one week in preparation for this tournament and therefore, I have never thought before that we can come this far. After this, I remain coaching Vietnam in their preparation for other major competitions,” Vietnam’s Japanese head coach Irisawa Hidehiro said while shedding tears.
Related links of AVC
AVC Website: click www.asianvolleyball.net
AVC Facebook: click www.Facebook.com/
AVC Twitter: click: https://twitter.com/avcvolley
AVC Instagram: click: https://www.instagram.com/
AVC Youtube: click: Asian Volleyball Confederation