Vietnam Women's Volleyball Before Asiad 20: When the Pillars Fall One by One

The training hall in Hanoi in early August is eerily quiet. On the empty stands, I sit taking notes as the girls of the Vietnam women's volleyball national team step into their first practice after the Asian Championship. The atmosphere is not exactly heavy, but there is an indescribable somberness. Nguyễn Thị Uyên, the outside hitter with the best reception on the team, is sitting out with a knee brace. Vi Thị Như Quỳnh, who used to share the attacking burden with Trần Thị Thanh Thúy, is absent due to health issues. I look around, counting the people on court. Only three outside hitters remain, two of whom are just 17 and 18 years old. The team just returned from the 2026 Asian Championship in China with a depleted roster. Nguyễn Thị Uyên suffered a serious injury during the tournament. Như Quỳnh could not compete due to health reasons. Head coach Nguyễn Tuấn Kiệt is left with only three healthy outside hitters: Trần Thị Thanh Thúy, Phạm Quỳnh Hương (18), and Bùi Thị Ánh Thảo (17). This is the most difficult personnel puzzle of his tenure. I remember the summer of 2026, when I first watched the Vietnam U20 women's team play at the World Cup in Cẩm Phả. Despite losing 0-3 to Germany, the spirit of those girls haunted me until now. The way they stood up after every failed play, the way they kept their eyes forward even when the score was already decided. Nine years later, I still see that in Thanh Thúy's eyes as she practices her serves alone after the official training session. No one is clapping, but she repeats the motion 15 times, 20 times. Tactically, Vietnam's system relies heavily on reception quality. This is the signature fast-and-variable style of Asian volleyball – quick, deceptive, but only functioning smoothly when the first pass is perfect. Nguyễn Thị Uyên is the most important link in this system. She is not the top scorer, but she is the one who ensures the first-tempo attacks are executed as intended. Losing Uyên leaves a huge gap in the team's reception system. Như Quỳnh's absence also means Thanh Thúy loses her most reliable attacking partner. In elite volleyball, depending on a single attacking star is taboo. Opponents at Asiad level – China, Japan, Thailand – all have blocking and defensive systems sharp enough to neutralize one attacking threat. When Thanh Thúy is contained, who will score instead? Phạm Quỳnh Hương and Bùi Thị Ánh Thảo are too young, lacking the physical maturity and international experience to shoulder this responsibility. This is not an underestimation of their potential, but the harsh reality of elite sport – where physical and mental growth takes time and cannot be rushed. I once witnessed training sessions of CLB Hà Nội I during the pandemic hiatus in 2026. Hàng Đẫy Stadium was empty, not a single soul in the stands. Tuyết Dung, the veteran striker of women's football, practiced corner kicks alone, repeating 15 times. No one clapped, but she kept going. I wrote in my diary: "They lost the stage, but not the ambition." Now, watching Quỳnh Hương and Ánh Thảo train, I see that image again. Two young girls who know the pressure on their shoulders, yet they do not shy away. Asiad 20 will take place in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, from September 19 to October 4, 2026. The most concerning issue is not just the depleted roster, but the registration limit. The Asian Championship allowed 14 players, but Asiad only allows 12. This means Coach Nguyễn Tuấn Kiệt must cut one more player from an already-depleted squad. According to the coaching staff, the team currently has 11 core players, with only one open slot for the outside hitter position. There is zero margin for additional injuries during the tournament. The replacement candidates all have their own issues. Đinh Thị Thúy (LPBank Ninh Bình) did not perform well at the AVC Cup. Nguyễn Thị Phương (Binh chủng Thông tin) and Phạm Thị Nguyệt Anh (military team) are inconsistent – good in some matches, poor in others. Hoàng Hồng Hạnh (Hóa chất Đức Giang Lào Cai), Đỗ Lại Yến Nhi (Geleximco Hưng Yên), and Trần Tú Linh (Hóa chất Đức Giang Lào Cai) are all promising faces but unproven at the international level. The reality is that no candidate truly stands out, reflecting a deeper issue: the squad depth of Vietnam women's volleyball remains very thin. However, I want to look at this from a different angle. A personnel crisis can also be an opportunity for young talents to be tested on the big stage. Quỳnh Hương and Ánh Thảo would not have this chance if Uyên and Như Quỳnh were healthy. The pressure will be immense, but it is precisely this pressure that can forge a resilience no training session can provide. I remember the story of Marta, the Brazilian women's football legend, who cried after the Tokyo 2026 Olympic semifinal because it was her last Olympics. Marta once said that failures taught her more than victories. Perhaps, for the young girls of Vietnam's volleyball team, Asiad 20 will be the most valuable lesson of their careers. Another possibility is that Coach Nguyễn Tuấn Kiệt will have to adjust his tactical philosophy. Instead of a fast-attacking style based on perfect reception, the team could shift to a solid defensive approach, waiting for counter-attack opportunities. This is a pragmatic adjustment, accepting limitations in attacking power while compensating with defensive solidity. However, the ceiling of this style is limited. At Asiad level, where top Asian teams possess diverse and sharp attacks, a purely defensive team will struggle to advance deep. I also think about numbers. In modern volleyball, distance covered and sprint counts are often packaged as effort indicators. But ineffective running also produces pretty numbers. The issue is not how much the players run, but whether they run to the right spots, whether they create value for the system. With two young outside hitters, the key is not how much they move, but whether they can read the opponent's intentions, whether they choose the right positions to neutralize dangerous attacks. This can only come from match experience, not from training drills. During the days of watching the team train, I noticed something: Thanh Thúy is carrying more than she shows. Not just scoring, but also being the emotional anchor for her two juniors. I see her patiently teaching Quỳnh Hương each blocking movement, gently reminding Ánh Thảo how to move in defense. These moments do not appear on sports news, but they are what define the team's identity. The court has no spectators, but the applause still echoes in the heart. Asiad 20 is not the final destination. In the cycle toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, this tournament is a crucial milestone for evaluating the squad. A poor result would affect Vietnam's world ranking, which in turn affects the qualification pathway for the Olympics. But conversely, if the young players grow from this very difficulty, it will be a solid foundation for the years ahead. The girl back then did not know she was writing history. And perhaps, right now, Quỳnh Hương and Ánh Thảo do not know they are embarking on a journey that fans will remember forever. The trophy does not discriminate by gender; only the spotlight does. But for the girls training in silence in Hanoi, the spotlight is not what they chase. They chase self-improvement, becoming the best version of themselves. And whatever the result at Asiad 20, their journey is already a story worth telling. Dreams do not need a ticket, but they need someone brave enough to tell the story. I will tell this story, because those girls deserve to be heard.