Rattan Bridge confidently looks to the future

Top performance

The Vietnamese Sepak Takraw team came to the tournament in Thailand with a strong force of 23 athletes, determined to compete and achieve the best results in the following events: 4-person female team, 4-person male team, 4-person mixed team, Regu male, Regu female and Hoop (jumping the shuttlecock into the basket).

Not disappointing expectations, Vietnamese athletes excellently brought home 1 gold medal (4-person female team), 2 silver medals (4-person male team, Regu female team) and 2 bronze medals (Hoop male, Hoop female). Compared to last year's tournament (winning 3 silver medals and 2 bronze medals), Vietnamese Sepak Takraw has made great strides and shown clear progress.

The team's coaching staff said that this achievement is not only the result of hard training but also a testament to the talent, courage and relentless competitive spirit of the athletes.

The biggest highlight of the team's performance at the highest level of world sepak takraw this year was the matches in the men's and women's 4-a-side team events - where Vietnamese athletes demonstrated their mettle and impressively won against Thailand, the world's number 1 sepak takraw and also the host country. In the semi-finals of the men's 4-a-side team event, the Vietnamese team played at more than 100% of their form to create an earthquake when they defeated Thailand 2-0, to the astonishment and surprise of the majority of their opponents' fans at the stadium.

This is the first time the Vietnamese men's sepak takraw team has beaten Thailand at the world championship level. Although the team later lost 0-2 to Japan in the final and won the silver medal for the fourth consecutive time at the tournament, the achievements of coach Hoang Duc Luong and his team have received a lot of praise.

The highlight of Vietnam’s Sepak Takraw performance at the tournament was a 2-1 victory in the women’s 4-team final. This is also a very strong event for Thailand, they are also the defending champions and they are playing at home. The Thais took advantage of that to win 15-12 in the first set. But this was also the best the Thai girls could do in this match.

Coach Tran Thi Vui's students showed a great fighting spirit, not giving up despite being under great pressure from the opposing fans. The Vietnamese girls played extremely steadily, with the most notable being striker Tran Thi Ngoc Yen, winning 15-8 in set 2. In the deciding set, despite being behind 5-2, the Vietnamese girls scored 7 consecutive points to lead 9-5, before winning 15-7. This was also a sweet revenge after the Vietnamese women's team lost to Thailand in the final match last year.

The perfect run-up

The victory in the final of the world championship is also the second time this year that Vietnam has defeated Thailand in the women's 4-a-side team event. In the most recent confrontation between the two teams in this event in March this year at the World Cup held in India, the Vietnamese women's team won 2-1 to win the championship for the first time in this arena.

Previously, the “golden girls” of Vietnamese sepak takraw also defeated Thailand to win the gold medal at the 19th Asian Games in 2023 in China, thereby ending the 17-year “gold thirst” at the Asian Games. The above achievements have shown that the skill gap between Vietnam and Thailand is increasingly narrowing.

Certainly, Thailand will be the main opponent of Vietnam's sepak takraw in the events participating in the 33rd SEA Games. With the home field advantage, the Thais will be determined to "get revenge", especially after losing in the 2 finals of the World Cup and the World Championship.

The Vietnamese women's sepak takraw team has achieved impressive results, however, coach Tran Thi Vui still recognizes the fact that the level of the team members is not completely equal. Some young faces need to make more efforts in terms of expertise and accumulate competition experience.

Thailand is a country with a long history of Sepak Takraw development, with early investment in athletes and a widespread movement throughout the country, creating a strong force in both quantity and expertise. While the Thai women's team can summon from 24 to 40 athletes, Vietnam only has about 16 athletes, which creates a certain disadvantage in terms of force balance.

Overcoming difficulties, achievements at the 2025 World Cup and the 2025 World Championship are considered a great source of spiritual encouragement for athletes to continue to practice hard, maintain their form and desire to win. In addition to maintaining their strength in the 4-man team event, Vietnamese Sepak Takraw must also aim to improve their achievements in the 2-man and 3-man team events to increase competitiveness, especially when having to compete on Thailand's field.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/cau-may-tu-tin-huong-den-tuong-lai-157544.html