Billiards: Launching a big series, Tran Thanh Luc made a dramatic comeback to win the championship

Tran Thanh Luc and Nguyen Van Tai gave the audience a thrilling final match until the last second. Thanh Luc showed his mettle in the decisive moment and won a narrow 50-49 victory to be crowned champion.

The final match of the 3-cushion carom billiards tournament of the National Cup 2025 took place in Lam Dong on the afternoon of September 17, the clash between Tran Thanh Luc (Ho Chi Minh City unit) and Nguyen Van Tai (Da Nang unit). Before the competition for the championship, Nguyen Van Tai is in extremely good form when he continuously went to the big series and won convincingly. In terms of titles, Thanh Luc is rated higher when he won the World Cup billiards Bogota (March 2025) and won the runner-up position in the World Championship 2024.

Series 14 helps Thanh Luc regain the game

The match was dramatic from the very first seconds, when the two players tied in the start and had to retake the game. In the first phase, Thanh Luc and Van Tai started the game quite slowly. But once they warmed up, the two players played an attacking game with a high scoring speed. In the 5th turn, Thanh Luc had a series of 5 points to take the lead 6-2. In the 9th turn, Van Tai responded with a series of 5 points to take the lead 9-7.

From this point on, Thanh Luc and Van Tai competed fiercely in terms of points, surpassing each other many times. In the 10th turn, Van Tai scored another 5 points, leading 14-7. After 12 turns, the Da Nang player led Thanh Luc with a score of 21-12.

Tran Thanh Luc had many comebacks on the journey to the 2025 National Cup championship

PHOTO: TB

In the 13th turn, the World Cup billiards champion Bogota suddenly exploded with a big series of 14 points, once again surpassing Van Tai, leading 26-21 and bringing the match into halftime.

In the second set, Van Tai had a series of 5 in the 14th turn to regain the lead, 27-26. The score of the two players was balanced at 31-31 when the match reached the 20-turn mark. In the last 20 points of the match, Van Tai and Thanh Luc started to play more cautiously, prioritizing defense and waiting for the opponent's opening to take advantage.

Nguyen Van Tai regrettably lost the championship.

PHOTO: TB

The match became more intense in the final scores. In the 24th turn, Thanh Luc scored a series of 6 points, then Van Tai immediately counterattacked with a series of 7 points to maintain the lead (43-38). In the 27th turn, when he was behind 40-47, Thanh Luc continued to score a series of 6 points to shorten the gap to 46-47.

In the final rounds, both players were under great psychological pressure, so they had some rather confusing moves. Van Tai was the one who reached 49 points first, leading Thanh Luc 49-47, after 29 rounds. However, Van Tai could not finish the match. Thanh Luc also needed 4 rounds to score 3 more points, thereby winning a thrilling 50-49 victory over Van Tai, thereby crowning the champion of the 2025 National Cup 3-cushion carom billiards tournament.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/billiards-tung-se-ri-lon-tran-thanh-luc-nguoc-dong-nghet-tho-gianh-chuc-vo-dich-185250917152947655.htm