Trần Thị Thanh Thúy will join the Vietnam women's volleyball team in early December, giving her time to prepare for the 2025 SEA Games.
According to Lao Động newspaper, athlete Trần Thị Thanh Thúy will return home on December 2 to join the Vietnam women's volleyball team in preparation for SEA Games 33 in Thailand. Although the Japanese championship continues in December, her club Gunma Green Wings allows her to return for national duty. At the same time, middle blocker Trần Thị Bích Thủy from Okayama Seagulls will also come back to focus on the national team.
The women's volleyball event at SEA Games 33 will take place from December 10 to 15 in Bangkok, at the arena that hosted the 2025 World Championship. Prior to this, Thanh Thúy and Bích Thủy participated in major tournaments this year such as the AVC Nations Cup, VTV Cup, SEA V.League, and the 2025 World Championship.
Trần Thị Thanh Thúy will have ample time to prepare for the 2025 SEA Games alongside the Vietnam women's volleyball team.
This is great news for the Vietnam women's volleyball team as coach Tuấn Kiệt and his players are determined to secure the gold medal at the 2025 SEA Games.
In August this year, news about Thanh Thúy’s scheduling conflict between the Japanese league and SEA Games 2025 caused concern among many Vietnamese volleyball fans. Initially, her match schedule overlapped closely with the Vietnam women's volleyball team’s SEA Games 33 matches, scheduled from December 10. Gunma Green Wings had two important Japanese V.League matches on December 6 and 7 against Himeji Victorina, so they could only release Thanh Thúy to return to Vietnam from December 8. This meant she had just two days to train and reacclimate with the team before embarking on the mission to change their medal color.
However, with the latest update, Trần Thị Thanh Thúy will have more time to train with the Vietnam women's volleyball team ahead of SEA Games 2025.
After the first two rounds of the 2025 Japanese volleyball league (SV.League), Trần Thị Thanh Thúy scored a total of 37 points, ranking 7th among the top scorers. She accumulated 35 points from attacks, 1 block point, and 1 direct ace. In the opening match against Queenseis Kariya, Thanh Thúy scored 17 points, helping Gunma Green Wings win 3-1. In the rematch, although the team lost 1-3, she still delivered an outstanding performance with 20 points.
This performance has earned the Vietnamese outside hitter high recognition, despite competing with many top foreign players, including Mckenzie May (Astemo Rivale Ibaraki), who leads with 51 points. Currently, Gunma Green Wings ranks 8th out of 14 teams and will face NEC Red Rockets on October 18.