The context: This was the first edition of the men’s Southeast Asian volleyball championship held in a “cup” format (replacing the old SEA V League), and it was Vietnam’s first time ever reaching the final. The final took place July 26 at Velodrome Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, capping off Stage 2 of the tournament.

Revenge match: Vietnam and Thailand had already met earlier in the group stage, where Thailand fought back from two sets down to beat Vietnam. That loss set up the final as a rematch Vietnam was eager to settle.

Set-by-set breakdown:

• Set 1: Thailand made the stronger start, edging the opening set 25-22 despite trailing by two or three points on several occasions.
• Set 2: Vietnam’s Italian head coach Federico Rampazzo made sharp tactical adjustments, helping Vietnam regain control at key moments and level the match 25-23.
• Set 3: Vietnam seized the initiative early and played impressively to take the set 25-19.
• Set 4: Thailand hit back hard, winning 25-15 to force a decisive fifth set.
• Set 5: Vietnam held their nerve to close it out 15-10, sealing the 3-2 win.

Why it mattered: This was Vietnam’s first-ever SEA V Cup title after four years of competition and eight editions of the tournament. Thailand and Indonesia had been the tournament’s dominant teams historically, with three titles each across the previous seven editions, while Vietnam’s best prior finishes were runner-up in 2023 and 2025 — so this breakthrough ended a long title drought for the Vietnamese program.

Thailand had looked like the tournament favorite heading in — they hadn’t lost a single match since the start of Stage 2 and were considered the leading candidate for the championship — which makes the final’s back-and-forth, five-set nature even more notable.