Quyet Chien won the World Cup billiards for the third time

COLOMBIA- Vietnam's number one player Tran Quyet Chien defeated Sameh Sidhom 50-44 after 31 rounds, to win the 3-cushion carom World Cup for the third time.

On the last cue, Quyet Chien was happy before he knew for sure that the ball's trajectory would be the deciding point. He kissed the cue stick, bowed his head to the audience and blew a kiss. The Bogota audience also applauded the Vietnamese player, and Sidhom also stood up, clapped his hands and came to hug Quyet Chien while he was still happy.

Quyet Chien continues to be the leader of Vietnamese billiards, with his third world title in his career, after Ho Chi Minh City 2018 and Porto 2023. In addition, there is only one other Vietnamese player who owns a world title, Bao Phuong Vinh with the World Championship in Turkey last year.

Runner-up Sameh Sidhom, champion Quyết Chiến, third place Glenn Hofman and Robinson Morales on the podium after the final match in Bogota, Colombia on the evening of March 3, 2024. Photo: screenshot

The defeated opponent of Quyết Chiến in Bogota, Colombia coincidentally was the same opponent he defeated in the final in Porto, Portugal last year. Sidhom entered the final this time with the goal of getting revenge but failed. The Egyptian player still could not win his first world title.

In the final match on the morning of March 4, Hanoi time, Quyet Chien was down by 10 points at 19-29, but he went on a 12-point streak to lead 31-29. This was also the highest scoring streak of a Vietnamese player in the tournament. From then on, the two players fought for each point, until the score was 43-43. The 40-year-old player went on a six-point streak, reaching 49-43 and ending the match.

Quyet Chien played seven matches in Bogota, winning all of them. In the group stage, he defeated Luis Aveiga (Ecuador), the host Daniel Moreno and Sidhom himself in Group F. The 40-year-old's performance reached 1.791 points in these matches. In the knockout stage, he defeated former world champion Tayfun Tasdemir, Tolgahan Kiraz and phenomenon Glenn Hofman, before defeating Sidhom again in the final match. His average performance in the tournament was 1.693 points per turn, lower than the two tournaments he won before.

Player Tran Quyet Chien at the 3-cushion carom World Cup in Bogota, Colombia in March 2024. Photo: Lifetime

The 3-cushion Carom World Cup takes place in seven stages each year, attracting hundreds of players from the qualifying rounds. The tournament has been organized by the International Billiard Union (UMB) since 1986. Since 2015, Ho Chi Minh City has been a regular stage of the tournament. In Seoul in July 2007, Tran Chi Thanh was the first Vietnamese player to reach the World Cup final. Quyet Chien is the only Vietnamese player to have ever won the championship.

Tran Quyet Chien was born on February 3, 1984 in Ha Tinh , and was ranked third in the world, according to the UMB rankings. For the past six years, he has been the number one player in Vietnam, reaching the World Cup finals five times with three championships. He was ranked fifth in the world before the tournament, and could improve his position after leaving Colombia.

The next big tournament Quyet Chien will participate in is the world team tournament, when he plays with Bao Phuong Vinh in Viersen, Germany from March 21 to March 24. This is the only world tournament in which the Vietnamese 3-cushion carom community has not won any titles.

Xuan Binh - Vnexpress.net

Source