In a stunning comeback, LPB Ninh Bình competes for the championship of the Hoa Lư Bình Điền Cup 2026 against MB Border Guard.

The host team Ninh Bình staged a comeback to defeat Ho Chi Minh City Police 3-2 in the men's volleyball semifinal of the Hoa Lư Bình Điền Cup 2026 and will face MB Border Guard in the match for the championship title.

The opening set unfolded at a high tempo with notable professional quality as both LPB Ninh Bình and Ho Chi Minh City Police entered the game with full confidence.

The Northern representative relied heavily on the scoring ability of foreign player Batsuuri and main attacker Hùng Cường, while on the other side of the net, Ho Chi Minh City Police demonstrated diverse attacking strength with key players like Quốc Dư, Quốc Duy, and Văn Tiên.

The two teams continuously exchanged blows for most of the set, creating an intense and gripping contest. However, the turning point came from the setter position when Ninh Bình's captain Anh Phi failed to maintain the necessary stability, causing the ball distribution plays to lack sharpness.

Capitalizing well on this, the players under coach Nguyễn Văn Hạnh increased pressure towards the end of the set, thereby breaking away and closing set 1 with a 25-22 victory.

Moving into set 2, the match gradually tilted entirely towards Ho Chi Minh City Police as this team showed superiority in both quality and lineup consistency. The attacks from the wings and central routes of the Southern representative were effective, continuously penetrating Ninh Bình's not-so-solid blocking line.

Meanwhile, Anh Phi still couldn't improve his performance in coordination, making the host team's gameplay predictable and overly dependent on Batsuuri. Although the Mongolian hitter still delivered impressive points, that alone was insufficient to help Ninh Bình maintain a chasing position. Ho Chi Minh City Police quickly established a safe lead and closed the set with a score of 25-17, thereby convincingly advancing to a 2-0 lead.

Facing the risk of defeat, the host team Ninh Bình played with great effort in set 3, creating a tense and balanced contest. The two teams traded blows in every play and maintained a tug-of-war scenario for most of the set. But at the decisive final points, Ninh Bình was the better-performing team and they secured a 25-22 victory to bring the match into set 4.

In set 4, Ho Chi Minh City Police had a better start. They led Ninh Bình 9-5 then 12-7. It seemed the volleyball team of the Police sector would leverage that advantage to settle the set and thus win the overall match, but Ninh Bình rose up spectacularly.

The team from the ancient capital continuously scored points with sharp blocks and powerful spikes to narrow the gap to 11-12 and then equalize at 14-14.

Ho Chi Minh City Police afterward restored their advantage, leading 19-17 then 21-20, but Ninh Bình awakened timely to lead again 23-21 before winning 25-23 to push the match into the decisive set.

Set 5 was extremely tense. Ho Chi Minh City Police once again surged ahead to lead 8-6, but Ninh Bình immediately returned by scoring 3 consecutive points to lead 9-8. Although the match score was later balanced at 10-10 then 12-12, Ninh Bình ultimately proved more outstanding by scoring 3 straight points to secure the decisive victory 15-12, thereby earning a spot in the final with a 3-2 overall win over Ho Chi Minh City Police and will meet MB Border Guard in the championship match of the Hoa Lư Bình Điền Cup 2026.