CITY OF CANDON — Vietnam regained its bearings and marched into the semifinals with a 25-18, 25-23, 25-19 victory over unheralded Myanmar on Friday in week One of the SEA V Cup at the Candon City Arena.
Nguyen Ngoc Thuan and Pham Quoc Du again led the way and Vietnam bounced back from a four-set loss to Thailand.
Thailand topped Group B with a 2-0 record, while Myanmar went 0-2 and will go to the classification match for fifth and sixth spots.
At stake in the zonal meet, presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and the City of Candon headed by Mayor Eric D. Singson, are all-important FIVB world ranking points.
Vietnam, playing its first official FIVB-sanctioned tournament since tapping Italy’s Federico Rampazzo just over a month ago, entered the Sea V Cup ranked 62nd.
Indonesia heads the field at 44th, buoyed by the title triumph in the Asian Volleyball Confederation Men’s Cup just last month in India.
In Pool A are Thailand, which started the event ranked 66th, Alas Pilipinas at 90th and Cambodia 117th.
Thuan had 22 points on 17 attacks, four aces and a block, while Du delivered 13 points, all on attacks for Vietnam.
Kyaw Aung Myo was the only player who reached double-figure scores for Myanmar, delivering 13 points on 12 attacks and an ace.
