Tran Thanh Luc caused a shock, defeating world number 1 to enter the final

In the semi-final match taking place in the early afternoon of September 29, Tran Thanh Luc faced Dick Jaspers (Netherlands). The Dutch player is a big challenge for Thanh Luc, as he has won the World Championship 5 times, won the World Cup 30 times and is currently ranked No. 1 on the World Carom Billiards Federation (UMB) rankings. Jaspers is also the one who eliminated Chiem Hong Thai in the quarter-finals. Therefore, fans are expecting Thanh Luc to "get revenge" for his junior, just like the way he defeated Jeremy Bury (in the quarter-finals) to "get revenge" for Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh.

The match took place at a very fast pace. After the first four turns, Dick Jaspers scored two series of 5s and one series of 4s, easily leading Tran Thanh Luc 14-7. In the sixth turn, the Vietnamese player hit a series of 7s to tie the score at 14-14. The following developments saw Jaspers slowing down, while Thanh Luc continuously scored points to break away and surpass his opponent. In the ninth turn, when the score was 18-15, Tran Thanh Luc scored a series of 8 points to bring the match into the break, leading 26-15.

Tran Thanh Luc beat Jaspers 50-32, after 16 shots. This is a very high score, as the Vietnamese player scored an average of more than 3 points per shot.

PHOTO: MINH DIEN BILLIARDS

After the break, the world number 1 Dutch player showed signs of mental strength. On the other side, Tran Thanh Luc still played very solidly, scoring more series 4 (10th cue), series 5 (11th cue) and series 3 (12th cue) to increase the gap to 20 points, leading 38-18.

In the 13th inning, Dick Jaspers rose up with a series of 6 points. However, that was all the world's number 1 player could do before accepting defeat. Tran Thanh Luc, with precise shots, scored points steadily to win 50-32 against the Dutch player after 16 innings.

Thanh Luc's opponent in the final match, Cho Myung-woo, is also in good form.

In the previous semi-final between Cho Myung-woo (Korea) and Eddy Merckx (Belgium), the Korean prodigy won convincingly 50-35.

Thus, Tran Thanh Luc will face Cho Myung-woo in the final match of the 2024 World Carom Billiards 3-Cushion Championship. The championship match will take place at 5:00 p.m. today (September 29), broadcast live on the Afreeca TV platform (link: https://billiards.afreecatv.com/schedule).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/billiards-tran-thanh-luc-gay-soc-danh-bai-so-1-the-gioi-de-vao-chung-ket-185240929151656566.htm