Dang Thi Hong played for Vietnam in four matches at the start of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's U21 World Championship. However, she was absent from the 3-1 victory over Puerto Rico in the final Pool A match on 12/8, along with Nguyen Phuong Quynh.
Later that day, the FIVB announced that a Vietnamese player had violated eligibility rules, resulting in Vietnam forfeiting their four previous wins and receiving 0-3 losses. The only result that stood was their victory against Puerto Rico. The FIVB did not disclose the athlete's identity or the reason for the violation.
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Dang Thi Hong (left) competing at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's U21 World Championship in Indonesia. Photo: Volleyball World |
Dang Thi Hong (left) competing at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's U21 World Championship in Indonesia. Photo: Volleyball World
The Vietnam Volleyball Federation (VFV) stated that the FIVB initially investigated the eligibility of three athletes: Le Nhu Anh, Nguyen Phuong Quynh, and Dang Thi Hong. Ultimately, only Hong remained absent and had her tournament statistics removed.
Due to the change in results, Vietnam dropped from second to last place in their pool. The team lost their spot in the round of 16 and was relegated to the 17th-24th classification round.
On 13/8, Hong was not listed on Vietnam's roster for their 3-1 win against Egypt. However, she unexpectedly appeared on the tournament website's roster for the match against Chile on 15/8.
A representative of the Vietnam U21 team said they had not received any information from the organizers. "If there are any changes, they must send us an email," the representative said.
The FIVB finally emailed Vietnam on the afternoon of the 15th to confirm the mistaken inclusion of Hong on the roster for the Chile match. The organizers then updated the roster, removing her name.
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Vietnam's roster against Chile after being updated at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's U21 World Championship. Photo: Volleyball World |
Vietnam's roster against Chile after being updated at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's U21 World Championship. Photo: Volleyball World
Born in 2006, Dang Thi Hong is of Tay ethnicity and hails from Slam Ve village, Nhac Mon commune, Pac Nam district, Bac Kan province (now Thai Nguyen). Her parents are illiterate, and her village is 16 km from the commune center, which delayed the registration of her birth certificate until 2008.
At 15, Hong left home to train in volleyball at the Thai Nguyen Sports Center. Despite being only 1.72 m tall, she quickly gained attention for her skills. In 2024, Hong and the Vietnamese team placed fifth at the 2024 Asian Women's U20 Volleyball Championship, securing a spot in this year's U21 World Championship in Indonesia.
Hieu Luong
