Having excelled in both the singles and doubles matches, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen helped his team Hana Card defeat their direct competitor Phoenix in this afternoon's Round 5 match, thereby increasing their chances of qualifying for the 2023-2024 PBA Team League Billiards Finals.
The 2023-2024 PBA Team League Billiards season consists of 5 rounds with 9 participating teams. After 5 rounds, the organizers will select 5 round champions to compete in the annual finals. Currently, after 4 rounds, the tournament has determined that Green Force (with Ma Minh Cam as the champion of Rounds 1 and 3), Bazzar (champion of Round 2), and Laon (champion of Round 4) are the 3 teams guaranteed to qualify for the annual finals. The remaining 2 spots will be awarded to the champion of Round 5 and the team with the best performance outside of the round champions.
With three spots in the finals already claimed, the battle for the remaining two is proving quite exciting. Currently, Hana Card (52 points) has Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Direct has Ngo Dinh Nai (53 points), and Phoenix (52 points) and Angels (53 points) are the four teams vying for them. Today's matches between these four teams – Hana Card vs. Phoenix and Direct vs. Angels – will be crucial in determining who wins and who loses.
Continuing his status as the "idol" of the Hana Card team, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen was entrusted with playing in both men's doubles and men's singles against the Phoenix team. In the men's doubles match, partnering with his junior teammate Jung Ju Shin against the pair Seo Hyun Min/Uymaz, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen successfully completed his task with a 11/4 victory.
In the subsequent men's singles match, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen faced Turkish player Uymaz, a former PBA Tour champion. However, the player affectionately known as "Brother Six" of Vietnamese billiards continued to show good form, winning 11/7, thus helping his team Hana Card win the match 4-1 and secure all 3 points.
Similar to Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, cue player Ngo Dinh Nai played a major role in Direct's victory over their direct rival Angles in the late match that ended at 10 PM tonight. After 6 games, the two teams are tied 3/3, so the final men's singles game between Ngo Dinh Nai and Turkish player Can Capak will decide the fate of the match.
The match was quite exciting, with Ngo Dinh Nai leading 5-0 before Capak leveled the score at 5-5. It seemed as though the Vietnamese player would be under pressure from his opponent's close pursuit, but Ngo Dinh Nai brilliantly executed two beautiful shots, each scoring 2 points. Along with 2 regular points, Ngo Dinh Nai scored a total of 6 consecutive points to finish the game with a score of 11-5. Thanks to this victory, Ngo Dinh Nai helped his team, Direct, defeat Angles by a close score of 4-3, earning 2 points.
Meanwhile, the match between the two teams featuring Vietnamese players, Green Force and Winners, ended with a 4-1 victory for Winners. Both Nguyen Huynh Phuong Linh and Nguyen Duc Anh Chien were fielded and completed their tasks for Winners, while Ma Minh Cam played his 7th game and therefore did not have time to enter the field for Green Force. However, this victory for Winners is meaningless as they no longer have a chance to compete. For Green Force, this loss is also not a problem as they still lead the overall standings and have already secured a spot in the finals.
With today's results, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen's Hana Card team and Ngo Dinh Nai's Direct team are gaining an advantage in the race for a spot in the finals this year. Both Hana Card and Direct have 55 points, while their direct competitors Angles (54 points) and Phoenix (52 points) are ahead. However, Ngo Dinh Nai's Direct team has an advantage over Nguyen Quoc Nguyen's Hana Card team because Direct has two matches left to play, while Hana Card only has one match remaining in the race.
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