Today (October 12), Kuzeyboru - the club where striker Tran Thi Thanh Thuy plays will visit VakifBank's stadium in round 2 of the 2024-2025 Turkish National Volleyball Championship.
Previously, in round 1, Kuzeyboru easily won 3-0 against Aydin B.Sehir at home. However, coach Mehmet Bedestenlioglu did not use main striker Tran Thi Thanh Thuy. Therefore, Vietnamese fans hope that the Binh Duong-born player will be able to play in this match.
VakifBank is also a team that is no stranger to Vietnamese women's volleyball. In 2023, VakifBank faced the Vietnamese team (Sport Center 1) at the Women's World Club Championship. In that tournament, due to a contract with PFU Bluecats (Japan), Tran Thi Thanh Thuy was not included in the squad of coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet.
This is a prestigious team with a rich tradition in Turkish and European volleyball, winning many prestigious titles, especially in recent years. They are always in the top 3 most powerful women's volleyball teams in Türkiye. VakifBank has won the national championship 12 times, the national cup 9 times and the national super cup 5 times.
The banking team has won the CEV Champions League - (European Cup) 6 times and the World Club Cup 4 times in 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2021.
This year, VakifBank continues to be considered by experts as a "strong" candidate for the championship when possessing many stars in the squad such as Zehra Gunes, Markova, Yuan Xinyue, Bosetti...
However, in the opening match of the 2024-2025 season, VakifBank disappointed when losing 0-3 to the underrated team Galatasaray. VakifBank showed a crisis in the ability to take the first step. Although they have a great attacking squad, they faltered in the first step and defense.
This could be a weakness for coach Mehmet Bedestenlioglu and the Kuzeyboru team to exploit thoroughly, thereby having the opportunity to create a surprising result against this opponent.
With an outstanding height of 1m93, Thanh Thuy promises to be a "trump card" of Kuzeyboru in the upcoming match. Besides, the ability to defend firmly, the spirit of fighting and fiercely are the things that the hitter from Vietnam can contribute to the playing style and tactics of the Kuzeyboru team.
If she is put on the field, Thanh Thuy will mark her as the first Vietnamese volleyball player to compete in a European national championship. In addition, this is also an opportunity for the 27-year-old main striker to compete and confront the world's top players to gain more experience in her journey abroad this time.
The match between Kuzeyboru and VakifBank will take place at 18:00 today (October 12, Vietnam time).
