Sanest Khanh Hoa volleyball team will join the 2017 season with not many changes in the line-up. Instead of recruiting excellent athletes as being expected, Sanest Khanh Hoa has been focusing on improving the play of their players through taking part in many small-scale tournaments.
Sanest Khanh Hoa volleyball team will join the 2017 season with not many changes in the line-up. Instead of recruiting excellent athletes as being expected, Sanest Khanh Hoa has been focusing on improving the play of their players through taking part in many small-scale tournaments.
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| Sanest Khanh Hoa (left) playing in 2016 season. |
The first tour of the National Volleyball Championship-PV GAS 2017 is planned to take place in Nam Dinh (Group A) and Thai Binh (Group B) from March 28 through April 1. Sanest Khanh Hoa is in Group B with Trang An Ninh Binh, Maseco Ho Chi Minh City, So Xo Kien Thiet Vinh Long, Ha Tinh and Military Zone 4. Group A includes The Cong 15 Corps, Border, the Fourth Coprs – Becamex, Long An, Ho Chi Minh City Police and Binh Duong Building Materials.
As said by the professionals, with the superiority of the 2016 championship holder The Cong 15 Corps and strong team the Fourth Coprs – Becamex, it is not difficult to predict the outcome of Group A. Meanwhile, Sanest Khanh Hoa, Trang An Ninh Binh and Maseco Ho Chi Minh City are expected to vie for top two in Group B. In this season, Trang An Ninh Binh will play with a Vietnamese naturalized athlete, Nguyen Van Da whose real name is Kitsada Somkane. This outside setter from Thailand used to be an outstanding player of Sanest Khanh Hoa about five years ago when foreign players were accepted at the domestic tournaments.
In this year’s season, it seems that Sanest Khanh Hoa will face many pressures because they only placed second in 2015 and 2016 season despite having front-line players who had been considered as the strongest ones in Vietnam. Before the player list of new season was finalized, Sanest Khanh Hoa was said to probably strive for the signature of Vietnam’s current most outstanding middle-blocker Nguyen Hoang Thuong. However, the team’s coach board determined to rely on the existing key players and help the whole team to enhance their skills through tournaments.
Specifically, right after Lunar New Year 2017, Sanest Khanh Hoa went to the North and took part in seven small-scale tournaments there. Finally, the team played 30 matches and won six first prizes.
Some changes in the line-up of Sanest Khanh Hoa in 2017 season include the leaving of setter Thien Men and the return of Van Tan and Nguyen Truong Giang after finishing contract with Ha Tinh and Ben Tre respectively. Trieu Tu Thien, Head Coach of Sanest Khanh Hoa, said that he believed in his players and that the team will achieve good results if they have enough time to strengthen cohesion within the team.
Reportedly, the second place is the minimum target of Sanest Khanh Hoa in this year’s season. Hopefully, with all the experience in the 2016 season when the team scooped Hung Vuong Cup, Dam Ca Mau Cup and failed to win the national championship title, the athletes of Sanest Khanh Hoa will have a more successful season in 2017.
An Nhien
Translated by H.N
