Vietnam beat Australia 3-0 in a group A curtain-raiser match at the 15 th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championships in Hanoi on Sept. 5.

In the second match on Sept. 6, Vietnam dominate Iran 25-11, 25-18, 25-24.

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 s 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 and Bui Thi Hue attacked well to complete a 25-14 win for Vietnam before also taking the third set, 25-19.

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

In other matches on Sept. 5, 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.

The Republic of Korea defeated Indonesia 25-14, 25-15, 25-18 in group D, also on Sept. 5.

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.

This winner of the tournament will represent Asia at the world championships./.