Latest billiards rankings: Tran Quyet Chien closes in on world leader, Tran Thanh Luc breaks away

After the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup ended, two Vietnamese players, Tran Quyet Chien and Tran Thanh Luc, both rose in the rankings of the World Carom Billiards Federation (UMB).

Tran Quyet Chien is ranked 2nd in the world

At the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup, Tran Quyet Chien reached the semi-finals. Vietnam's No. 1 player regretfully lost to Dick Jaspers (Netherlands). Although he failed to qualify for the finals and did not achieve the goal of winning the championship at home, Tran Quyet Chien still improved his position on the rankings. Accordingly, the Ha Tinh native rose from 4th place (before the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup) to the top 2 of UMB.

According to UMB's scoring method, at the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup, players must defend the points achieved at the Seoul Billiards World Cup (Korea) held at the end of 2023. At the 2023 Seoul Billiards World Cup, Quyet Chien stopped at the round of 32 and only got 8 points. At the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup, the Vietnamese player reached the semi-finals, with 36 bonus points. Thus, Quyet Chien was added 28 points, and currently has a total score of 346.

Tran Quyet Chien was once number 1 in the world in 2024

PHOTO: UMB

Tran Quyet Chien's rise to the top 2 is partly due to the players above him having many points deducted, specifically Cho Myung-woo and Eddy Merckx. Accordingly, Cho Myung-woo is the runner-up of the Seoul Billiards World Cup 2023 and received 54 points, while the Korean "prodigy" was eliminated from the round of 32 of the Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup 2025 and only received 10 points. Therefore, Cho Myung-woo had 44 points deducted, from 330 points (2nd place) to 286 points (currently ranked 3rd UMB).

Similarly, Eddy Merckx was even more heavily deducted points when he won the Seoul Billiards World Cup 2023 and received 80 points. But at the Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup 2025, the Belgian player also stopped in the round of 32 and got 10, so he was deducted up to 70 points. Merckx fell from 3rd place (326 points) to 7th place with 256 points.

Dick Jaspers remains at the top of the UMB rankings. The Dutchman is currently ranked 1st with 498 points.

Tran Thanh Luc continues to rise in rank

Tran Thanh Luc is the Vietnamese player who has made the most spectacular breakthrough on the UMB rankings recently. The player born in 1990 is the first person to win the World Cup billiards in 2025, when he won the championship in Bogota - Colombia last March. This achievement helped Thanh Luc enter the world's top 5, with 273 points.

At the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup, Tran Thanh Luc was a highly anticipated player but did not compete successfully. The Binh Duong player stopped at the round of 32. However, Thanh Luc still moved up in rank, from 5th to 4th, after the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup ended.

Tran Thanh Luc, despite being eliminated early, still moved up 1 place, from 5th to 4th place.

PHOTO: UMB

Accordingly, Tran Thanh Luc has no achievements at the Seoul Billiards World Cup 2023 (because he did not participate). Being present in the round of 32 of the Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup 2025 brought the 35-year-old player 8 points, and he currently has a total score of 281.

Bao Phuong Vinh was also eliminated from the round of 32. However, the player born in 1995 remained at 14th place, with 178 points. This position was just enough for Phuong Vinh to be specially qualified to participate in the round of 32 of the next World Cup billiards tournament in 2025.

Chiem Hong Thai was eliminated early in the 4th qualifying round, also had points deducted but still ranked 15th. Tran Duc Minh increased 1 rank, from 23rd to 22nd. Frederic Caudron increased 4 ranks, from 21st to 17th.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bang-xep-hang-billiards-moi-nhat-tran-quyet-chien-ap-sat-ngoi-dau-tran-thanh-luc-but-pha-185250527144308404.htm