Vietnam spikers take seventh

As the women's volleyball competition tidies up its loose ends at the Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall with final placement matches, Vietnam took on Mongolia to decide 7th and 8th positions in the competition, with Vietnam overpowering their opponents 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-19).

Vietnam dominated the net in this one sided encounter, and took an early four point lead in the first set which they never relinquished. Despite a brilliant tip from Mongolia's U Amagalanbazar and a powerful spike down the line from Munkhzaya Davaajav, these were only minor highlights as they failed to contest their opponents.

Mongolia committed more errors on reception and in attack during the second set, giving Vietnam too much freedom on their combination plays. A slide spike from Thi Kim Hue Pham and a tip from Thi Hong Dang were just too good for Mongolia's defence.

Having lost their focus in the third set by committing too many errors, the Vietnamese found themselves trailing 8-6 by the first technical timeout. But the set turned when Mongolia lost their Libero Bilguun Galbadrakh to injury after she collided with another player, and Vietnam took advantage of a weakened defence to seal the match.

Speaking after their defeat, Mongolia's assistant coach Bayarsaikhan Gotov suggested where his team need to improve. He said, "We always leave our middle open for the opponents to spike, I don't really know why. It has always been this way. That's what we learned from today's game."

15th Asian Games, Doha 2006