The quarter-final match between Vietnam and Belgium is considered to be the most evenly matched of this round. While Tran Quyet Chien (ranked 2nd in the world) and Bao Phuong Vinh (ranked 8th in the world) have the advantage of youth and higher rankings, the Belgian team has superior experience with the presence of experienced players. 13-time World Cup champion is 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 entered the game better and continuously led the score against Tran Quyet Chien. Although the Vietnamese players tried very hard to cling to the score to shorten the score to 30-31 against an 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 are focused on the next table of Bao Phuong Vinh facing 59-year-old player Jozef Philipoom. Despite having a better start and a very far lead, Bao Phuong Vinh stopped at 27 for a long time and let Philipoom surpass him.
Bao Phuong Vinh became the 'hero' of Vietnamese billiards
However, the young Vietnamese player was able to come back in time and had 2 series of scores to win the final 40-34 after 24 rounds. With this result, the Vietnam and Belgium teams had to enter the double bowl match (each person took turns playing 1 turn) with only 15 points. Uplifted after the equalizing victory, Bao Phuong Vinh and Tran Quyet Chien entered the game very well with a series of 13 points.
Although the Belgian team was determined to pursue points, the two veteran players Merckx and Philipoom only scored 2 points. With courage and high spirit, the duo of Vietnamese players ended the match with a score of 3-15 after only 3 rounds and officially had a ticket to the semi-finals. With this achievement, Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh helped Vietnam's 2-cushion billiards reach the semi-finals of the world team championship for the first time in history after participating many times.
Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh created a historical milestone for Vietnamese 3-cushion carom billiards
The opponents in the semi-finals of Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh will be the US team with two players Hugo Patino (ranked 2st in the world) and Raymon Groot (ranked 31st in the world). The semi-final match between Vietnam and the US team will take place at 71:17 p.m. on March 24.3 (Vietnam time).
