With a record of 1 win and 1 draw in round 4 of the HBSF 3-cushion carom billiards tournament, Tran Quyet Chien won a ticket to the knockout round (3 players) with the first position in group A. The first knockout round of the tournament took place on the evening of October 16, competing in the 10.10-point touch format, not in the same turn. Tran Quyet Chien's opponent in round 40 was Nguyen Chi Long. Previously, Chi Long made his mark at the Ho Chi Minh City 16-cushion carom billiards World Cup in May 3, when he scored a series of 5.2024 points in the fourth qualifying round, before defeating living "legend" Torbjorn Blomdahl in the group stage.
The match between Tran Quyet Chien and Nguyen Chi Long was exciting right from the first shots. Chi Long led 8-5 after the 6th shot, but Quyet Chien leveled the score at 9-9 when the 7th shot ended. From this point on, Vietnam's number 1 player started to accelerate, leading his opponent 12-9, 16-12.
On the 10th turn, Tran Quyet Chien suddenly exploded with a "huge" 15-point series, bringing the match into halftime, leading 31-12 against Chi Long. With a 15-point series, Quyet Chien also surpassed Thoi Hoang Huan (who previously had a 14-point series) to temporarily take the lead in the list of secondary award winners for "highest series of the tournament" up to this point.
In the end, Tran Quyet Chien won a quick 40-14 victory over Nguyen Chi Long, after 14 rounds. Thereby, Quyet Chien won a ticket to the quarter-finals, taking place on October 11.10. Vietnam's number 1 player will face Pham Quoc Thich (who won 40-37 over Dao Van Ly in round 16) in the round for the 8 strongest players of the tournament.
The results of the round of 16 matches were as follows: Tran Thanh Luc defeated Tran Van Ngan 40-33; Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu defeated his younger brother Nguyen Tran Thanh Tao 40-23; Nguyen Nhat Hoa defeated Chiem Hong Thai 40-30; Nguyen Nhu Le defeated Tran Manh Hung 40-19; Vo Quoc Thang defeated Tran Duc Minh 40-38; Ly The Vinh defeated Van Hoang Ba 40-33.
Many surprises happened on the competition day of October 10.10. Highly rated names such as Bao Phuong Vinh, Tran Duc Minh, and Chiem Hong Thai unfortunately stopped when they were defeated by lesser-known players.
The quarter-finals will be played on October 11.10, with the following matches: Tran Quyet Chien vs. Pham Quoc Thich, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu vs. Nguyen Nhu Le, Vo Quoc Thang vs. Nguyen Nhat Hoa, Tran Thanh Luc vs. Ly The Vinh.
Sources: https://thanhnien.vn/tran-quyet-chien-the-hien-dang-cap-voi-se-ri-khung-xuat-sac-vao-tu-ket-185241010213157336.htm