Young talent Chiem Hong Thai won a medal at the Egypt World Cup

Chiem Hong Thai is the Vietnamese player who made the strongest impression at the Sharm el Sheikh Billiards World Cup 2024. On the competition day of December 6, when experienced seniors such as Tran Quyet Chien and Tran Thanh Luc stopped at the round of 16, Hong Thai played explosively to win a ticket to the semi-finals. Notably, the two victories of the 1999-born player were both against very strong players, respectively the world number 1 Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) and the reigning world champion Cho Myung-woo (Korea).

This afternoon (December 7) is the final day of the Sharm el Sheikh Billiards World Cup 2024. Chiem Hong Thai will play in the semi-finals, facing Eddy Merckx (Belgium). Merckx is a veteran of the world's 3-cushion carom billiards scene, having won 13 World Cup tournaments.

Chiem Hong Thai could not continue to create surprises in the semi-finals of the Sharm el Sheikh 2024 Billiards World Cup

Chiem Hong Thai seemed to have a psychological problem, so he could not enter the game with confidence like in the previous matches. On the other side, Eddy Merckx also did not have the best scoring feeling in the first half of the match. In the first half, Merckx led Hong Thai, but the gap was not significant. The match entered the break with a 10-point gap, Merckx leading 26-16, after 18 rounds.

It was not until the 19th turn that Chiem Hong Thai had his first big series of the match when he scored 7 points, narrowing the gap to 23-26. But after that, the Vietnamese player still could not escape the deadlock. Eddy Merckx scored steadily to win the match 50-39, after 30 turns.

Thus, Chiem Hong Thai officially stopped at the semi-finals of the Sharm el Sheikh Billiards World Cup 2024. The player born in 1999 finished in 3rd place overall, won the bronze medal and received 6,000 euros (about 160 million VND) in prize money.

The young talent of Vietnamese billiards has yet to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup 2024 tournament. This is the second time he has won a bronze medal (previously at the Porto World Cup 2023). However, this is still considered a successful tournament for the player born in 1999.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/billiards-tai-nang-tre-chiem-hong-thai-gianh-huy-chuong-tai-world-cup-ai-cap-18524120717121725.htm