8 candidates compete for Hung Vuong Volleyball Cup

After finishing second in the national tournament for five consecutive seasons, Duc Giang Chemicals has high expectations for this year's tournament, where they can improve their ranking with the dream of once stepping onto the highest podium.

Regret runner-up

Many positive factors have brought the chemical industry team the necessary optimism. Accordingly, "old friend" Nguyen Huu Ha has returned to the head coach position, Kenyan foreign player Sharon Chepchumba has returned to the place that brought her name to the title of "Best Striker" last season, mainstay Bich Thuy has a short "internship" in the Korean professional volleyball environment...

No one thought that everything would unexpectedly drift out of control for coach Nguyen Huu Ha and his team. They only won against two weak opponents, TP HCM and Geleximco Thai Binh, while losing to three rivals, LPBank Ninh Binh, Thong tin Dong Bac and VietinBank, all with a score of 0-3.

8 ứng viên tranh cúp bóng chuyền Hùng Vương- Ảnh 1. — LPBank Ninh Binh runner-up Bich Tuyen (10) has the potential to change the color of the Hung Vuong Cup medal this season. Photo: BĐLA

Chepchumba played some matches, simply because his passing ability was too weak. Meanwhile, coach Nguyen Huu Ha could not use Tichaya Boonlert on the field at the same time as Chepchumba due to the foreign player rule. Not only that, in the match that decided the last ticket to the Top 4 of round 1 - also the last position to compete for the Hung Vuong Cup, Chepchumba was injured in the first match against VietinBank, and had to watch his teammates "patch" the team but still lost the match.

Unable to enter the top 4 positions in round 1, Duc Giang Chemicals lost the right to participate in the Hung Vuong Cup after 3 consecutive seasons. If the situation is not corrected in time, the above decline can completely strongly affect the team's ranking in the second phase of the season, including the possibility of having to stop early before the threshold of the national semi-finals.

For Sanest Khanh Hoa, the story is not just about professional issues. It was hinted at before the end of last season that coach Bui Quang Ngoc would not renew his contract and the coastal city team was at risk of not being able to survive due to financial reasons... Many key players left while those who remained were really worried.

Former player Ngo Van Kieu accepted the "hot seat", starting to rebuild the squad with many new players. Of course, the quality of the Sanest Khanh Hoa squad now cannot be compared to the team that in the last 6 seasons all reached the national tournament semi-finals, finished second 3 times and won the championship 2 other times.

In the first three matches, Sanest Khanh Hoa only won 1 against Hanoi, luckily they managed to speed up and overcome the declining LPBank Ninh Binh. Forced to beat the top team, Cong An TP HCM, in the last match to compete for a ticket to the next round, the coastal city team failed to complete the task.

Waiting for exciting matches

Although not the main front for many teams, the championship title from the ancestral land of Phu Tho always has a certain attraction.

Seeing VietinBank and Thong tin Dong Bac competing for tickets to the women's tournament as well as Da Nang and The Cong Tan Cang fiercely competing for the last two spots in the men's tournament, fans can soon think of the exciting matches that still lie ahead, after these teams have completed their tasks in the first stage of the National Championship.

It is not difficult to imagine that two names will "make waves" again at the Hung Vuong Cup 2025: The men's team is the current holder of the MB Border Guard Cup, while the women's team is last season's runner-up LPBank Ninh Binh. The "dark horse" of the men's team, Ho Chi Minh City Police, will face many challenges from The Cong Tan Cang, while the women's team, Thong tin Dong Bac, will compete fiercely with VTV Binh Dien Long An on the way to the final.

The Hung Vuong Cup 2025 will take place from April 3 to 6 at Phu Tho Provincial Sports Stadium with the participation of the 8 best men's and women's volleyball teams of round 1 of the National Volleyball Championship, including: Ho Chi Minh City Police, MB Border Guard, Tan Cang The Cong, Da Nang (men) and LPBank Ninh Binh, VTV Binh Dien Long An, Thong tin Dong Bac, VietinBank (women).

For the first time, with a companion unit (Lam Thao Super Phosphate and Chemical Joint Stock Company), the Hung Vuong Cup prize has tripled compared to before with the levels of 200 million, 150 million, 100 million and 70 million VND.