Young Vietnamese billiards talent shines again, advances to Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup

Nguyen Hoai Phong continues to perform well in the second qualifying round of the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: DUC PHONG

In this round of the World Cup billiards, 16 players who passed the first qualifying round will join 32 players who are already in the second qualifying round (according to the UMB rankings) and be divided into 16 groups, competing in a round-robin tournament with 30 points to select the top 16 players to continue. Previously in the first qualifying round, there were 10 Vietnamese players who won tickets to continue.

Much attention is paid to Group J, where the youngest Vietnamese player at this year's World Cup is Nguyen Hoai Phong.

In the opening match, the player born in 2003 won 30-10 after 16 rounds against Adrien Tachoire (France).

However, in the remaining match, Hoai Phong lost 26-30 to Takao Miyashita (Japan). Notably, Takao Miyashita had previously lost 26-30 to Adrien Tachoire. Although all three players had the same score, Hoai Phong won the top spot in the group and a ticket to the next round thanks to a better scoring efficiency of 1.4 points/round.

Meanwhile, Takao Miyashita is 1.09 points/turn, and Adrien Tachoire is 0.93 points/turn.

In contrast to Nguyen Hoai Phong's difficult progress, 8 other Vietnamese players advanced straight to the next round with convincing results.

In Group C, national runner-up Doan Minh Kiet defeated Lee Beom Yeol (Korea, 30-14) and Moulos Vangelis (Greece, 30-21). Similarly in Group E, Nguyen Dinh Luan defeated Amir Ibraimov (Denmark) 30-26 and Mahmoud Ayman (Egypt) 30-20.

Nguyen Chi Long topped Group H with a 30-21 victory over Dinh Quang Hai and a draw with David Pennor (Sweden). In Group I, veteran player Truong Quang Hao won all matches against Fabien Camberlin (France) and Kim Dong Ryong (Korea).

Ngo Le Duy also easily won the top spot in Group K when he defeated Ali Ibraimov (Germany) and Kim Hyeong Kon (Korea). Similarly in Group M, Nguyen Nhu Le won both matches against Baris Sabanci (Türkiye) and Sung II Jeong (Korea).

In group N, Le Quoc Ho, after winning 30-20 against record holder Thon Viet Hoang Minh, continued to win against Miyashita O (Japan) with a score of 30-15 after only 13 rounds, including a 10-point series to advance.

Finally, Nguyen Dinh Quoc with a convincing 30-9 victory after 16 rounds against Alessio D Agata (Italy) won first place in group O with the same score as Nguyen Hoan Tat (3 points) but better goal difference.

Most regrettably in group A, Tran Quang Hung, after defeating Kim Do Huyn (Korea), lost narrowly 29-30 to the reigning Korean national champion Choi Wan Young, thereby having to stop.

On May 21, the Ho Chi Minh City 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup continued its third qualifying round. In this penultimate qualifying round, 16 players who passed the second qualifying round and 32 players who were already present in the third qualifying round were divided into 16 groups, competing in a round robin with 30 points to select the top 16 players to continue.

Notably, this is the day of competition with the appearance of a series of strong players. In addition to the 9 Vietnamese players who passed the second qualifying round, Dao Van Ly will also compete. In addition, many other international players in the world's top 40 will participate such as Kang Ja In (Korea), Birol Uymaz (Turkey), Volkan Cetin (Netherlands), the 2m02 "giant" Sam Van Etten, Gwendal Marechal (France) or the Dutch player who just won the 2025 world team championship Jean Paul De Bruijn.

The Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup took place from May 19 to 25 at Nguyen Du Stadium (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Billiards & Snooker Federation (HBSF) and main sponsor Hollywood. The tournament had the participation of 149 players, including the world's top superstars.

The champion of the tournament receives 16,000 euros and 80 bonus points. The runner-up receives 10,000 euros and 54 bonus points. The third place receives 6,000 euros and 36 bonus points. The remaining positions receive bonuses and bonus points according to the allocation.

DUC KHUE

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tai-nang-tre-billiards-viet-nam-lai-toa-sang-di-tiep-o-world-cup-billiards-tp-hcm-2025052022250184.htm