Losing to "old friend" Korabelka, Vietnam team consecutively finished second in VTV Cup

(NLDO) - Defending champion Korabelka (Russia) took more than 2 hours to defeat host Vietnam with a score of 3-2 in the final, successfully defending the VTV Cup title.

The VTV Cup 2025 final is probably the best and most intense match for the title in the history of the tournament. The fact that the two main characters of the last season's final meet again this time does not reduce the appeal of the match.

In 2024, Korabelka ranked 1,897th on the world women's volleyball club rankings of volleybox, far behind former Vietnamese champion LPBank Ninh Binh with a ranking of 960. However, in the latest statistics table of 2025 also of volleybox, Korabelka climbed to 294th position while captain Bich Tuyen's team only climbed to 432nd position.

Korabelka quickly took the lead in the first two games.

Therefore, it is completely wrong to judge Korabelka as weaker than the first time they came to Vietnam to participate in VTV Cup 2024. The opponent is strong, the host is also in stable form and the final match is worthy of being a worthy battle at VTV Cup this year.

In the opening game, the score was tied at 9-9 before Korabelka took the lead with powerful cross-court and floor shots from main striker Elizaveta Nesterova. The Russian team broke away and won 25-19 in this game.

Korabelka's attacks over the defense

The situation seemed more pessimistic for coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's team when all positions on the field played awkwardly, especially in the back line defense. Korabelka played better and better as he took advantage of his opponent's mistakes to score points and win the second set 25-14.

Thanh Thuy and her teammates steadfastly made a comeback.

While the situation was extremely dangerous and everyone thought of a tragic ending for the home team, the Vietnamese team strongly performed an unbelievable comeback. Thanh Thuy and her teammates won two consecutive games with scores of 25-23 and 25-21, bringing the match to the deciding set.

Bich Tuyen took on the responsibility of scoring the main points for the Vietnamese team in the deciding game.

As the defensive errors in the back row were gradually corrected and in the front line, Bich Tuyen, Thanh Thuy, Nguyen Uyen and Bich Thuy took care of each point, the Vietnamese team caught up to the score of 4-4 and then took the lead 9-6, 11-8 and 12-10.

Korabelka was not to be outdone, equalizing and then rising to 13-12, 14-13 and winning with a thrilling score of 20-18!

Korabelka won VTV Cup two years in a row

Two consecutive years in the final with the home team and winning both times, Korabelka set a new record in VTV Cup history.

Final results:

1. Korabelka 2. Vietnam Team 3. Chinese Taipei 4. Philippines Team

5. Thailand U21 team 6. Vietnam U21 team 7. Sichuan (China) 8. Australia team

Individual titles:

+ Excellent striker: Tran Thi Thanh Thuy (Vietnam team) - Viktoria Bobrova (Korabelka)

+ Outstanding middle blocker: Kan Ko-hui (Chinese Taipei) - Elizaveta Palshina (Korabelka)

+ Excellent opposite passer: Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen (Vietnam team)

Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen (Vietnam Team)

+ Excellent setter: Irina Filishtinskaia (Korabelka)

+ Excellent Libero: Nguyen Khanh Dang (Vietnam Team)

+ Best player of the tournament: Elizaveta Nesterova (Korabelka)

+ Miss VTV Cup : Leila Jane Cruz (Philippines)

Source: https://nld.com.vn/that-bai-truoc-co-nhan-korabelka-tuyen-viet-nam-lien-tiep-ve-nhi-vtv-cup-196250705232153102.htm