KoreanBao Phuong Vinh entered the 1/8 round, while the world's number two player Tran Quyet Chien stopped in the group stage of the 3 Asian 2024-band carom tournament.
In the group stage ending today, March 30, Phuong Vinh defeated Ly The Vinh 3-40, O Takeshima 33-40 and Takao Miyashita 18-40, with an average performance of 24 points per match. The 1,579-year-old player topped Group H, joining Miyashita in the 29/1 round.
Phuong Vinh in the world 3-band carom final in Viersen city, Germany on the evening of March 24, 3. Image: Billiards1
However, Quyet Chien was not successful when he lost to Nguyen Tran Thanh Tao 37-40 in the opening match. Vietnam's number one player was then held to a 40-40 draw by compatriot Duong Thanh Tam, before losing to host representative Kang Ja-in 26-40 in the final match. Quyet Chien's last shot at the tournament was a back kick with just one click of the cue, failing to score a point. He ranked last in Group C, with a performance of 1,451 points per match.
This is the first tournament for Phuong Vinh and Quyet Chien after the two players brought home the first world team billiard championship for Vietnam in Germany on March 24. Quyet Chien had a chance to become number one in the world if he won this tournament, but that goal has disappeared.
Besides Phuong Vinh, Vietnam has three other representatives in the 1/8 round: Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu, Thanh Tam and Tran Thanh Luc. Thanh Tu and Thanh Luc both won all three matches, with 1,667 points and 1,364 points respectively. Meanwhile, Thanh Tam ranked second in Group C with a performance of 1,263 points with one win, one draw and one loss.
Korea proved its position when there were 10 players in the 1/8 round, including world number one Cho Myung-woo with the highest performance of the tournament with 2,069 points. The second highest performance from the beginning of the tournament also belonged to home player Heo Jung-han, with 1,776 points, even though he lost to Thanh Tu.
The knockout round matches take place tomorrow, March 31. From the knock-out round, the matches are played up to 3 points, without the same chance, so the player with the right to start will have the advantage.
The Asian billiard tournament takes place annually with 1-band carom, 3-band carom for men and women, and U22, interrupted in 2020-2022 because of Covid-19. Quyet Chien is the only Vietnamese player to have won the 3-band carom championship in 2019 in Ho Chi Minh City.
This year is the 12th time the tournament has been held, taking place in Gangwon, from March 28 to March 3. Vietnam dominated the one-band event, when player Pham Canh Phuc won the championship after defeating Vo Phuoc Thanh in the final on March 31.
Xuan Binh
