Hero Bao Phuong Vinh and Tran Quyet Chien mark a historic milestone for Vietnamese billiards

The quarter-final match between Vietnam and Belgium is considered the most evenly matched of this round. While Tran Quyet Chien ( world No. 2) and Bao Phuong Vinh (world No. 8) have the advantage of youth and higher rankings, the Belgian team has superior experience with the presence of 13-time World Cup champion Eddy Merckx.

Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh passed the dramatic quarter-finals

In the match between the two main players, the 55-year-old Belgian player started the game better and continuously led Tran Quyet Chien. Although the Vietnamese player tried very hard to keep up the score to shorten the score to 30-31 against his experienced opponent. However, at the end of the match, Tran Quyet Chien slowed down and let Merckx win with a score of 40-30 after 19 turns.

At this point, all the hopes of Vietnamese billiards fans were focused on the table next to Bao Phuong Vinh, who was facing 59-year-old Jozef Philipoom. Despite having a better start and a large lead, Bao Phuong Vinh stopped at 27 points for a long time and was overtaken by Philipoom.

Bao Phuong Vinh becomes the 'hero' of Vietnamese billiards

However, the young Vietnamese player managed to come back and had 2 series of points to win 40-34 after 24 rounds. With this result, the Vietnamese and Belgian teams had to enter the doubles match (each player took turns playing 1 round) with only 15 points. Boosted by the equalizing victory, Bao Phuong Vinh and Tran Quyet Chien entered the match very well with a series of 13 points.

Although the Belgian team was determined to chase points, the two veteran players Merckx and Philipoom only scored 3 points. With their courage and high spirit, the Vietnamese duo finished the match with a score of 15-3 after only 2 rounds and officially got a ticket to the semi-finals. With this achievement, Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh helped the Vietnamese 3-cushion carom billiards team to reach the semi-finals of the world team championship for the first time in history after many participations.

Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh create a historic milestone for Vietnamese 3-cushion carom billiards

Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh will face off against the US team in the semi-final, with Hugo Patino (ranked 31st in the world) and Raymon Groot (ranked 71st in the world). The semi-final between Vietnam and the US will take place at 5:00 p.m. on March 24 (Vietnam time).

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