Speaking atthe opening ceremony, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam SportsAdministration Tran Duc Phan, who is also head of the organising committee,said the volleyball tournament is expected to help young talents to improvetheir skills and bolster cooperation, friendship and solidarity among thevolleyball federations.
In addition, the event is designed to helpVietnamese players to prepare for the 30th Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) inthe Philippines later this year, he noted.
This year, 13teams are competing in the tournament, namely Australia, China, Hong Kong,India, Kazakhstan, Macao, the Maldives, New Zealand, the Democratic People’sRepublic of Korea (DPRK), Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and hosts Vietnam.
The teams will play in the round-robin format inthe group stage and in the knockout format from the semi-finals.
On July 13,the DPRK won 3-1 over Thailand while Taiwan suffered a 0-3 loss to China.-VNA