Vietnam defend continental trophy, qualify for Challenger Cup again

The women’s national team of Vietnam defended their AVC Challenge Cup trophy from last year and once again qualified to represent Asia at the upcoming Volleyball Challenger Cup tournament, which will take place in Manila from July 4 to 7 with a spot in next year’s Volleyball Nations League at stake. The Filipino capital also hosted the continental event, at which rookies Kazakhstan and hosts Philippines made it to the podium to celebrate historic success.

Vietnam became the fifth team to qualify for Challenger Cup 2024 in the Philippines, after the host nation, NORCECA representatives Puerto Rico, CSV representatives Argentina and CAVB representatives Kenya. Two more participants will emerge from the 2024 CEV Volleyball European Golden League and the last one will be determined after that, based on the FIVB World Ranking on June 17.

Vietnam cruised through the AVC Challenge Cup tournament undefeated in six matches played, dropping only two sets along the way, one of them in the pool match against Kazakhstan. When the two teams met again in Wednesday’s final, however, Vietnam produced a 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-22) sweep, with a 26-point match high from outside hitter Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen, to win the trophy for the second consecutive time, while AVC Challenge Cup newcomers Kazakhstan marked their debut in the competition with silver. Tuyen was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the competition.

The Philippines also reached the last four by topping their pool undefeated. Masterfully conducted by their setter Julia De Guzman, they bounced back from a straight-set loss to Kazakhstan in the semifinals with an emphatic 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-7) sweep of the third place match against Australia. This way the Philippines achieved their first-ever podium finish in any senior-level AVC competition.

India, Iran, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei and Singapore, in that order, lined up in the places from fifth to eighth in the final standings. In addition to Tuyen’s MVP award, individual honours were bestowed on the players recognized on the Dream Team of the tournament: setter Julia De Guzman (Philippines), opposite Anne Angel Canino (Philippines), outside hitters Caitlin Tipping (Australia) and Sana Anarkulova (Kazakhstan), middle blockers Le Thanh Thuy (Vietnam) and Yuliya Yakimova (Kazakhstan), and libero Nguyen Khanh Dang.

• Watch Volleyball Challenger Cup 2024 live on VBTV

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