Nine teams have been divided into two groups for the eighth edition of the event. Vietnam are in group A with the Democratic Republic of Korea, Australia and Kazakhstan. Group B consists of teams from Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, Thailand and host VTV Binh Dien Long An.

Teams will compete in a round robin format with the best two teams from each group advancing to the semi-final round.

In the last tournament, Vietnam defeated Ukraine’s Vin group 25-23, 25-15, 20-25, 21-25 to defend their title.

All matches will be aired live on VTV2 and VTV3. The tournament is considered an important warm-up for the national team under new coach Qiao Yu Chuan before they participate in the 26th Southeast Asian Games later this year in Indonesia.

Quiao, who spent 10 years coaching Chinese club Sichuan, has an array of players at his disposal including 1.83m Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hoa and attackers Bui Thi Hue, Pham Kim Hue and Pham Thi Yen.