LookAtVietnam – Viet Nam beat Australia 3-0 in a group A curtain-raiser match at the 15th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championships in Ha Noi on Saturday.

In over her head: Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa (left) smashes over an Australian block to take a 3-0 win for Viet Nam in the Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championships in Ha Noi.

The hosts, who won the International Women’s Volleyball Tournament – VTV Cup last month, began the match with strong attacks to cruise to a first set 25-11 victory.

Australia regrouped to trail closely in the second set in a tense see-saw competition with good performance from key attacker Danielle Stott. However, the key player herself could not carry the team at Quan Ngua Sports Palace.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese veterans Pham Kim Hue city and Bui Thi Hue attacked well to complete a 25-14 win for Viet Nam before also taking the third set, 25-19.

In the opening match of last month’s VTV Cup last month, Viet Nam also beat Australia 3-0.

In other matches on Saturday, Iran beat Sri Lanka 25-18, 25-15, 27-25 in group A.

Group B saw Japan dominate Chinese Taipei 25-13, 25-10, 25-9, while world and Olympic champions China, the tournament favourites, trounced Kazakhstan 3-0 in the group C opener 25-14, 25-17, 25-19.

South Korea defeated Indonesia 25-14, 25-15, 25-18 in group D, also on Saturday.

The tournament has drawn 14 teams for competition in four groups. The top two teams in each group will qualify for the semi-finals in this biannual event.

The winner of the tournament will represent Asia at the world championships.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News