Teams From Indonesia, Thailand Crowned In Zonal Events of Southeast Asian Men’s Volleyball League

Southeast Asian Men’s Volleyball League

The second leg of the inaugural Southeast Asian Men’s Volleyball League took place in Santa Rosa, Philippines from 28 to 30 July, and, for the second time, Indonesia achieved a clean sweep of the round-robin tournament to claim their second title. The Indonesian men’s national volleyball team has so far been allocated a total of CHF 27,000 of FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support.

The Indonesians started with a 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23) win over Vietnam, followed up with a straight-set 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-20) victory over hosts Philippines and finished their campaign with a nail-biting 3-2 (25-27, 20-25, 25-21, 25-21, 15-9) victory (pictured in the main photo; credits: asianvolleyball.net) over Thailand. Vietnam finished runners-up after five-set wins over Thailand and the Philippines, while Thailand, another team supported by Volleyball Empowerment, completed the podium with bronze, despite competing with their second squad due to the first team participating in the Volleyball Challenger Cup.

Indonesia’s Halim Farhan was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the three-day tournament. Setter Dinh Van Duy (Vietnam), opposite Rotter (Philippines), outside hitters Thanomnoi Jakkrit (Thailand) and Arabi Boy Arnes (Indonesia), middle blockers Kurniawan Hendra (Indonesia) and Truong The Khai (Vietnam), and libero Prasojo Prasojo (Indonesia) were named on the Dream Team.

The previous week, Indonesia were even more convincing at home, in Jakarta, where they lost only a set (to Thailand) in the three matches played. Thailand finished second after sweeping their games against third-placed Vietnam and fourth-placed Philippines.

Southeast Asian Women’s Volleyball League

Thailand topped the podium at the first leg of the women’s SEA V. League, held last week in Vinh Phuc, Vietnam. Hosts Vietnam; supported by Volleyball Empowerment through the 2023 Knowledge Transfer program, hiring a physiotherapist to work with the team, and Thailand defeated the other two teams on the first two competition days and met face-to-face in the deciding match on Sunday. After a hard-fought 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-17) turnaround, the Thais snatched the inaugural title, leaving Vietnam with the silver, while the bronze medals went to Indonesia.

Thai star Kongyot Ajcharaporn took two individual awards, for MVP and for a Dream Team outside hitter. The other Dream Team nominations went to setter Doan Thi Lam Oanh (Vietnam), opposite Hoang Thi Kieu Trinh (Vietnam), outside Tran Thi Thanh Thuy (Vietnam), middle Siti Nur Fadhilah Wilda (Indonesia) and Nuekjang Thatdao (Thailand), and libero Pannoy Piyanut (Thailand).

The SEA V. League (formerly known as ASEAN Grand Prix) is a series of international volleyball tournaments in Southeast Asia featuring the men’s and the women’s national teams from Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. The second women’s tournament is set to take place this week, from 11 to 13 August, in Chiang Mai, Thailand.