Billiards: Vietnam's 3-cushion 'legend' makes impressive comeback at the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City, but...

Veteran Vietnamese billiards player Ly The Vinh played well on the opening day of the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City 3-cushion Carom World Cup, with an undefeated record in the first qualifying round.

The 2025 Ho Chi Minh City 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup kicks off in the first qualifying round, with 48 players divided equally into 16 groups. Of the 30 Vietnamese players participating in this round, 18 will compete from the first qualifying round. Notable names include Ly The Vinh, Nguyen Dinh Quoc, Dinh Quang Hai, Le Quoc Ho, Nguyen Hoai Phong and commentator Le Phuoc Minh Dien...

Ly The Vinh is undefeated in the first qualifying round of the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup...

Ly The Vinh is in group A with his compatriot Tran Quang Hung and Greek female player - Litsa Mavridoglou. In the opening match of the return to the World Cup billiards arena, the "legendary" player of Vietnamese 3-cushion carom was evenly matched with his junior. Accordingly, Ly The Vinh tied 30-30 with Quang Hung, after 33 rounds.

Billiard player Ly The Vinh regrettably stopped at the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup.

PHOTO: LP

In the second round, Ly The Vinh faced Litsa Mavridoglou. Entering the match, veteran Ly The Vinh was the one holding the white ball, won the right to start first and quickly took the lead in the first rounds. In the 6th round, the U.70 Vietnamese player threw a series of 7 points to create an 8-point gap over her opponent, leading 12-4. After that, Litsa Mavridoglou tried to catch up but was unsuccessful, because of the difficult balls left by Ly The Vinh. When the score was 14-5, veteran Ly The Vinh continued to throw a series of 12 points to widen the gap to 26-5. Ly The Vinh easily won against the Greek female player with a score of 30-6, after 17 rounds. Thereby, the Vietnamese 3-cushion legend temporarily rose to the top of Group A and seemed to have one hand on the ticket to the second qualifying round.

...but still stopped because he was 1 turn behind his opponent.

However, the surprise happened in the final match of group A, in the confrontation between Tran Quang Hung and Litsa Mavridoglou. This was the decisive match for who would continue in group A. In this match, if Quang Hung could not beat his opponent in 16 rounds, then Ly The Vinh would win the right to enter the next round.

What the legendary Ly The Vinh worried about finally came true. Tran Quang Hung won in the most exciting scenario. On the 16th turn, when the score was 22-11, Quang Hung played brilliantly to have a series of 8 cool points to end the match, thereby "squeezing through the narrow door" to enter the second qualifying round.

Greek player Litsa Mavridoglou started out in pool and won the national championship. After her success in pool, she switched to 3-cushion carom, participating in the 2024 Women's World Championship and some international tournaments for men, but has not left much of an impression.

PHOTO: Le Phong

Quang Hung only had one more chance than Ly The Vinh to play the pool. Specifically, Quang Hung had 60 points after 49 pool turns (index 1,224). Ly The Vinh had 60 points after 50 pool turns (index 1,200). Although veteran Ly The Vinh had an impressive comeback at the World Cup pool arena, he had to stop regrettably.

The qualifying round 1 of the 3-cushion billiards carom billiards World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City 2025 has 48 players competing, divided equally into 16 groups. The players compete in a round-robin format to calculate points and rank. The matches are played to 30 points, with equal turns (with a draw). The top player in each group (16 players) will qualify for the qualifying round 2 of the 3-cushion billiards World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City 2025.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/billiards-huyen-thoai-3-bang-viet-nam-tai-xuat-an-tuong-tai-world-cup-tphcm-nhung-185250519183511547.htm