The hero who helped Vietnamese women's volleyball achieve a shocking victory against a top 5 world-ranked team unexpectedly returns after 8 years of absence.

The hero who helped the Vietnamese women's volleyball team secure a historic 3-2 victory over Japan at the Asian Championship unexpectedly retired at age 24. Now, she surprises again by returning at age 32.

Formerly famous setter Nguyễn Thị Hồng Đào returns to play for VTV Bình Điền Long An at age 32, and she is expected to participate in Round 1 of the 2026 National Volleyball Club Championship with the reigning champion team.

Nguyễn Thị Hồng Đào is one of the standout talents from the Long An training academy. Born in 1994 in a region renowned for women's volleyball tradition, Hồng Đào early on displayed exceptional qualities and quickly established herself wearing the jersey of Club VTV Bình Điền Long An.

Due to innate talent and relentless effort, she was called up to the national youth team from 2010 and gradually climbed to the peak of her career.

In 2015, a major turning point arrived when Coach Thái Thanh Tùng gave her the opportunity to join the Vietnamese women's volleyball team participating in the Asian Championship. At this tournament, Hồng Đào delivered a memorable performance, especially in the match against the Japanese team, one of the strongest volleyball teams in the continent.

At that time, the Vietnamese team was trailing the currently world-ranked No. 5 team 2-0 after the first two sets. In that difficult situation, Coach Thái Thanh Tùng decided to send Hồng Đào onto the court to replace senior Linh Chi, and this was the moment the young girl demonstrated her composure.

Immediately upon entering the court, Hồng Đào instantly made a difference with delicate, precise, and highly varied passes. She handled difficult balls skillfully, distributing the ball rationally, helping Vietnam's attacking points have more effective finishing opportunities.

With beautiful first-step receptions, Hồng Đào delivered well-timed passes for auxiliary attackers like Ngọc Hoa and Bùi Thị Ngà to finish. With unfavorable one-touch passes, she adjusted the tempo with high passes, creating conditions for main attackers like Trần Thị Thanh Thúy, Đỗ Thị Minh, or Hà Ngọc Diễm to have sufficient time to approach and unleash powerful spikes.

Thanks to the flexible ball distribution and excellent adjustment passing of the 1994-born setter, the Vietnamese team created a spectacular comeback, defeating Japan with a 3-2 score. This was a shocking victory.

Not only affirming her talent in the national team jersey, Hồng Đào was also a crucial factor helping VTV Bình Điền Long An win the national championship in 2017. While playing for the club, she was the默契 teammate of legend Ngọc Hoa, who repeatedly praised Hồng Đào's skillful, flexible passing ability.

From 2015 to 2017, she was also the primary choice for the setter position in the Vietnamese national team, contributing to many important victories.

However, when her career was at its peak, Hồng Đào unexpectedly requested withdrawal from the national team ahead of the 2018 ASIAD and decided to retire shortly afterward.

The reason she gave was wanting to devote more time to her personal life. After leaving professional volleyball, Hồng Đào married in June 2018 to an entrepreneur running an electronics equipment business in Long An.

Interestingly, her husband was once a recreational volleyball athlete and a loyal fan of VTV Bình Điền Long An, regularly watching matches where Hồng Đào played. This shared passion for volleyball brought them together.

The wedding of the Long An girl took place in a warm atmosphere with the presence of many close teammates like Ngọc Hoa and players from clubs VTV Bình Điền Long An, Vĩnh Long, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Hồng Đào's retirement at just 24 years old was a significant loss for both Club VTV Bình Điền Long An and the Vietnamese women's volleyball national team.

At that time, she was evaluated as one of the most outstanding setters, with flexible ball distribution and extremely effective adjustment of poor passes. Her absence left a considerable gap in the playing style of the Western region team as well as the national team.

Eight years after deciding to leave the court, Hồng Đào surprises everyone again, just as when she decided to bid farewell to volleyball to nurture her family life. The passion for volleyball of the former Vietnamese national team player remains intact, and a VTV Bình Điền Long An with many promising young players still greatly needs the experience of a veteran like her to prepare for a challenging season as they must defend their national championship title and participate in many other important tournaments.