Hanoi overturns HCĐG Lao Cai: When a group-stage losing streak became a springboard to the final

In set 2 of semifinal 1, played on the afternoon of October 24, 2026, Hanoi led 5-1 before surrendering the advantage and falling behind 9-16 to HCĐG Lao Cai. For a squad that had just lost 5 of its final 6 group-stage matches, a seven-point deficit in a knockout tie usually reads as a verdict. Then Brankica Mihajlovic stepped up to the service line, and the match flipped in a way raw numbers cannot quite capture. I stayed seated behind the technical area, noting every touch, and asked myself: was that losing streak a collapse, or a calculation? The 2026 season saw Hanoi split its group stage into two halves that were almost impossible to reconcile. Over the first eight matches, the capital club won everything, playing a brand of volleyball that forced every opponent to shrink. Then came six matches in which they lost five. The slide dropped Hanoi to fourth place, which meant meeting top seed HCĐG Lao Cai as early as the semifinal. Public opinion erupted with the theory that coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's side had deliberately chosen its opponent to avoid tougher names in the other bracket. Throughout the group stage, HCĐG Lao Cai had been stable and dominant, finishing first. But a top seed carries no insurance into the knockout rounds, where competitive nerve and effective tactics decide everything. That was the core difference few people noticed before the match. From set 1, Hanoi showed they had not walked in with the mindset of a team that had just lost five of six. Coach Nguyen Tuan Kiet's side held the lead for most of the set. The turning point came right after they briefly fell behind. Instead of panicking, the bench called a timely timeout, adjusting tactics while also cooling the opponent's momentum. This is the detail I watched most closely: a timeout used not only to fix the game plan but to freeze HCĐG Lao Cai's psychological surge. Hanoi's players stayed calmer, won the key points late in the set, and took it 25-21. In set 2, that same mental composure became the anchor. Hanoi jumped ahead 5-1, then made repeated errors and fell behind 9-16. That is the moment where many teams fold. But the class of the stars spoke. World champion Brankica Mihajlovic played as if possessed, scoring point after point. National team player Le Thanh Thuy added several effective blocks and powerful attacks. HCĐG Lao Cai hit a psychological wall, unable to break the opponent's scoring run. As a result, Hanoi came back to win 25-22 convincingly, then took the next set 25-17 to claim a place in the final. Based on my experience covering these matches, the difference did not lie in beautiful rallies. It lay in the ability to endure the worst stretch of a team's own game. Hanoi surrendered scoring runs in all three sets, but never lost their structure. Their mid-court defense kept its spacing, their passes stayed on rhythm, and crucially, the lead server still dared to choose aggressive serves at decisive moments. HCĐG Lao Cai was the opposite. Once behind, their defense scattered, their lines lost their gaps, and their touches under pressure turned rushed. Worth noting: Hanoi were only promoted this year yet already showed the nerve of a title contender thanks to heavy investment in the squad. As for HCĐG Lao Cai, the most consistent team of the group stage, they missed out once again and have still never won the national championship. The theory that Hanoi lost on purpose to pick their opponent sounds compelling, but I do not fully buy it. Had it been deliberate, they would have accepted an enormous risk: sacrificing form and belief just to swap brackets. What this team lost across those final six matches did not look like a scripted plan. It looked more like fatigue and internal trouble. The blind spot is this: pundits tend to assign intent to anything that resembles calculation, when the truth may simply be a dip in form followed by an unexpected revival at the right moment. But whatever the cause, the lesson holds: do not predict the champion. Predict the game-changer. Hanoi enter the final with a ticket few dared believe in after such a long losing run. The question for the next match is not whether they have enough talent, but whether they can hold on to the composure that let them overturn HCĐG Lao Cai. Volleyball always rewards the teams that keep their structure when things are at their worst.