The wait comes true
Tran Thi Thi Bich Thuy officially joined the GS Caltex W team to compete in the Korean National Women's Volleyball Championship. Bich Thuy is still managed by the Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Team. Bich Thuy's contract in Korea at the moment is for 3 months. "I am lucky to have the opportunity to learn more about the profession. Regardless of the volleyball background, there are good things that I and many others are always excited to accumulate," Nguyen Bich Thuy once expressed.
In March 2024, Bich Thuy and her teammates Tran Tu Linh and Ly Thi Luyen had a chance to go to Korea. They were able to participate in a trial for Korean football teams to select players to prepare for the KOVO Cup. Each of them tried their best, but unfortunately, none of the three players above were able to get a contract to play in Korea.
After that time, returning home to participate in the 2024 National Volleyball Championship, Bich Thuy once shared that she never lost hope of finding another opportunity to compete in volleyball tournaments abroad. Bich Thuy understood that Vietnamese players are fully capable of developing their skills. Now, Bich Thuy's wait has come true.
In 2019, we met Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy when she returned home after a training and competition program in Thailand. Bich Thuy was one of the first faces sent abroad by the Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Women's Team to train and compete to accumulate expertise. At that time, Bich Thuy was 19 years old.
During her time in Thailand, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team's middle blocker spent 8 months training and competing for the Air Force women's team. This team is now called Diamond Food-Fine Chef Sport Club (which came to Vietnam to compete in the 2023 Asian Club Volleyball Cup).
“In Thailand, the team's training method is different from Vietnam. It took me nearly 3 months to get used to the way of playing, get used to the way the players play, and improve my own technique,” Bich Thuy shared at that time.
At the end of the 2019 Thai Women's Volleyball Tournament, Bich Thuy received the individual title: Best Middle Blocker.
That was a memorable period because Bich Thuy clearly affirmed that being in Thailand helped her change her professional skills positively. The player once said that any Vietnamese athlete going abroad is bewildered, but the top goal is professional skills, so she focused on practicing and competing, ignoring everything else to improve her competitive ability so that the coach can trust her more.
The recent invitation for Bich Thuy to compete in Korea was also very coincidental. Considering this a good opportunity for Bich Thuy to further develop her abilities, the manager of the Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Team agreed to let his player go to the land of kimchi. The history of Vietnamese volleyball officially recorded Tran Thi Bich Thuy as the first player to sign a contract with a professional volleyball team in Korea.
Travel a day, learn a basket of knowledge
At the current National Volleyball Championship, the girl born in 2000 is one of the few players with good height (1m84) with the ability to hit the ball quickly and has a quick mind. Former coach Pham Van Long of the Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Team once analyzed Bich Thuy that she is a player with good height, positive professional development in recent years and is a very effective striker when performing fast smashes in her profession. "Thuy has competed in many tournaments, accumulated with high-performance volleyball, so she has enough opportunities to develop herself," Mr. Long assessed.
Now, Bich Thuy has begun to adapt to the Korean sports environment. Many predictions say that this is a professional environment so the screening is very thorough and the players cannot avoid pressure. It is not by chance that the manager of the GS Caltex W team noticed Bich Thuy and invited her to compete in Korea.
Bich Thuy shared that she focuses on her expertise so she tries her best to practice to understand and catch up with the professional training program and competition intentions from the coach. Of course, what Bich Thuy needs most is an official position on the field and she will have to try her best 100%.
Determined to come back strong in 2025
Bich Thuy is a member of the Vietnam Women's Volleyball Team that participated in the 31st SEA Games, winning a Silver Medal at home. In 2023, she regularly participated in the Vietnam Women's Volleyball Team under head coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet.
Bich Thuy is also on the list of participants in the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia. 2023 is considered a year of effort for Bich Thuy and this middle blocker has achieved many results with the Vietnamese women's team. Bich Thuy won the Hung Vuong Cup for the first time with the Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Team.
It is a pity for Bich Thuy that she is absent from the professional squad of the Vietnam women's volleyball team in 2024. Bich Thuy once said that this did not make her sad, but on the contrary, it was a motivation for her to compete better and find an opportunity to return to the Vietnam women's volleyball team.
In 2024, Bich Thuy competed in tournaments with great determination. Professionals frankly acknowledged that the Duc Giang Lao Cai Chemical Women's Team was still lucky to have Bich Thuy, who was very stable in tournaments when on the field. Another regret for this middle blocker was that she and her teammates reached the finals of the 2024 National Volleyball Championship but continued to finish second.
Good performance at the 2024 National Volleyball Championship, combined with being able to compete in Korea, are the most concrete guarantees for Bich Thuy to believe she has the opportunity to return to the Vietnam Women's Volleyball Team this year.
Of course, the coaching staff is the one who makes the final decision. Bich Thuy said that she is still eagerly waiting for the opportunity to continue competing in the SEA Games for the Vietnam Team. This year, the Vietnamese women's volleyball team will definitely go to Thailand to compete in the 33rd SEA Games.
However, female volleyball players across the country are still anxiously awaiting the professional plan of the Vietnam Women's Volleyball Team towards the 2025 World Championship. No one wants to miss this prestigious tournament. This is the first time that Vietnamese women's volleyball has been officially qualified for the 2025 World Championship.
“I don’t want to say much about myself because the most important thing is still my performance on the field. I always listen and practice according to the training plan given by the teachers so that I can do my best in every situation,” Bich Thuy shared with the press.
The Korean Women's National Volleyball Championship will end at the end of March 2025. In case Bich Thuy's contract is not renewed, she will return to Vietnam to participate in the 2025 National Championship with her home team. If Bich Thuy is re-signed to a new contract in Korea, this player will not miss the opportunity to continue playing here to improve her skills.
