The Volleyball Federation of Vietnam (VFV) has been intensely preparing for the Asian Games 2018 (ASIAD 18) since the start of this year, VFV General Secretary Le Tri Truong said.

Vietnam national women’s volleyball team (Photo: mediacdn.vn)

Truong revealed the information at a press conference on the upcoming VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup held in Hanoi on July 31.

Accordingly, the team has been trained to enhance their teamwork skills instead of solely depending on a few key players, he added.

The VTV International Women’s Volleyball Cup will run from August 4-11 at Ha Tinh Gymnasium in the central province of Ha Tinh. It is viewed as a warm-up for the players to sharpen their skills and competitive spirits ahead of ASIAD 18, which will be held in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.

The tournament features eight teams, including Kazakhstan’s Altay, China’s Yunnan, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Vietnam’s national team is in Group A with Altay, Yunnan, and Japan’s Hokkaido University, while Vietnam’s U19 team is in Group B with the DPRK, China’s Sichuan, and the Taipei National University.

This will be the second time that the Vietnam U19 competes in the tournament. The team recently won sixth place at the 2018 Asian Women’s U19 Volleyball Championship.

The teams will play under a round-robin format to select the top four teams to progress to the semi-finals.

The winner will walk home with 10,000 USD in prize money, while runners-up will receive 7,000 USD. The teams which come third and fourth will receive 5,000 USD and 2,000 USD, respectively. 

The cup is an annual event initiated by the VFV and Vietnam Television in 2004. This year’s event is sponsored by Vietnamese steel giant Hoa Sen Group. –VNA