Besides the situation with Thanh Thúy and Như Quỳnh, there remains a thought-provoking issue regarding the Vietnamese women's volleyball team at the 2025 World Championship.
We ended our campaign at the 2025 Women’s Volleyball World Championship with three losses against Poland, Germany, and Kenya. Apart from the situation involving Thanh Thúy and Như Quỳnh, there is another issue concerning the Vietnamese team at this event that deserves reflection.
Why did Coach Tuấn Kiệt rarely use Bích Thủy, and why did Vietnam underutilize the middle blocker attack?
It is puzzling that after a very good match against Poland, Bích Thủy was scarcely used by Coach Tuấn Kiệt in the remaining matches against Germany and Kenya, and Vietnam rarely employed the middle blocker’s attack.
There is no need to discuss Bích Thủy’s level because it is already very clear. She is currently the best middle blocker in Vietnamese women’s volleyball. In fact, Bích Thủy is now even better than Nguyễn Thị Trinh, who has been considered the most consistent star of the Vietnamese team over the past two years (completely accurate) and the best middle blocker of the national team (also accurate, until Bích Thủy returned after playing professionally in South Korea).
Some may still disagree, but the statistics do not lie. Just one notable example: in the two matches against Thailand during the two stages of the SEA V-League 2025, Bích Thủy scored 11 points in each game (making her the highest-scoring middle blocker and among the top scorers for Vietnam in both stages of the SEA V-League 2025).
It is very hard to understand why Coach Tuấn Kiệt did not use Bích Thủy (number 25) as a full-time player at the 2025 World Championship.
If that is not convincing enough, in our opening match at the 2025 World Championship, Bích Thủy scored 9 points despite facing the giant block of Poland. Her quick attack is currently the best on the Vietnamese team. Especially, Bích Thủy has a very strong mentality and is one of the few players on our team capable of scoring points in big, difficult matches.
But it is unclear why in the matches against Germany and Kenya, Coach Tuấn Kiệt substituted Bích Thủy early and used Lê Thanh Thúy to pair with Nguyễn Thị Trinh. Lê Thanh Thúy is a middle blocker known for blocking, so the appearance of the star from Hải Phòng aimed to strengthen Vietnam’s blocking ability. However, this was only theoretical, as in reality, after replacing Bích Thủy, Lê Thanh Thúy could not do better against the attackers from Germany and Kenya.
Compared to Bích Thủy, Lê Thanh Thúy is shorter (1.80m versus 1.84m) and no longer able to perform the quick back-row attack. Lê Thanh Thúy’s ability to perform well in tough matches cannot compare to Bích Thủy’s current level, making Coach Tuấn Kiệt’s decision even more confusing.
While relying heavily on wing attacks, we used the middle blocker attack (quick attacks at position 3 and back-row quick hits) too little at this year’s World Championship. Along with not fully utilizing Bích Thủy’s ability (perhaps because Coach Tuấn Kiệt does not fully trust her?), the limited use of the middle blocker attack is also a matter worth discussing.
Focusing too much on wing attacks made Vietnam’s offensive style more predictable and easier for opponents to counter. Besides how Thanh Thúy and Như Quỳnh were used, the deployment of Bích Thủy and the wing-heavy playing style of the Vietnamese women’s volleyball team at this World Championship is also an issue worthy of reflection.
We participated in this high-level tournament aiming to gain experience, learn, and accumulate knowledge, but that does not mean we should use this as an excuse to overlook all related problems. Some limitations and unavoidable issues must be accepted, but there are others we could have handled better if we were more alert and rational. That is truly regrettable.
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