PHILSPORTS Arena, Pasig City – Vietnam faces off with Chinese Taipei for the first match of the Quarter finals held at Philsports Arena in Pasig City. It was a strong volley of set wins between two which lasted for 4 sets, and clinched with a win by Vietnam.

From a 2-1 setting, Vietnam proved to be a formidable contender rising up to tie at 2-2. It was toe to tow escalation leading to set 5. A perfect block by Huang leads Taipei to blazing lead to this clincher set.

In the fifth and final set, Vietnam relied heavily on team captain Tran Thi Thanh Thuy to defeat Chinese Taipei and go to the semifinals.

In the decisive set, Tran unleashed nine of her match-high 25 points to secure the victory and advance the Vietnamese player on to the semifinals.  It was a crucial step up for Tran that the team needed most at this dire need.

With the victory, Vietnam outperformed its previous best placing here, a fourth-place showing in Almaty, Kazakhstan, precisely ten years ago, which came in the previous edition of the biannual competition in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand.

Vietnam’s height advantage was the tip of the spear that prevented Taipei from fully grabbing the victory. It was an early lead squashed by Vietnamese brute resistance.

Taipei may have been over confident with an early 5 point lead in the set. A factor on court could have been exhaustion from the toe to toe fight. They probably exerted too much too early, ending by tragically handing over the win to Vietnam at the point of fatigue.

Coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet of Vietnam attributed their victory to their strong character and excellent defense. 

Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh and Nguyen Thi Trinh, who contributed 22 and 10 hits, respectively, gave Tran some much-needed assistance.

Nguyen shares through an interpreter, “we won because of two things, first because we had good defense and second, winning spirit.”

The Taiwanese, led by Chen Tzu-19 Ya’s points, were demoted to the classification group where they had a maximum chance of finishing in fifth place.

It was a fierce game nonetheless as both teams gave tremendously outstanding plays from both sides of the court.

Set scores at the end of the match

Vietnam with 3 sets

Chinese Taipei with 2 sets

Scores per set

First set – 19-25

Second set – 25-17

Third set – 16-25

Fourth set – 25-18

Final set – 15-10 in favor of Vietnam

Game win goes to Vietnam.