Vietnam makes history, wins world team billiards championship

(Dan Tri) - Defeating Spain 15-14 in the final tie-break, Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh helped Vietnam win the world 3-cushion carom team championship for the first time.

Tran Quyet Chien (world No. 2) and Bao Phuong Vinh (world No. 8) faced off against Ruben Legazpi and Sergio Jimenez of Spain in the men's singles finals early on March 25 in Germany. Bao Phuong Vinh quickly dominated Sergio Jimenez, scoring consecutive points before taking the match into halftime with a gap of 29-11 with an 11-point rally.

Tran Quyet Chien (left) and Bao Phuong Vinh on the podium to present the cup and medal at the world 3-cushion carom team tournament in Viersen, Germany (Photo: Billiard1).

Phuong Vinh continued to dominate his opponent in the second half with many accurate shots and ended the match with a 40-22 victory after 19 shots. Quyet Chien had a dream start when he hit an 11-point shot in the first shot to lead 11-1. Then, Ruben Legazpi took advantage of Quyet Chien's many inaccurate shots to break away and lead 27-14. Vietnam's number one player played with great effort and equalized the score 34-34. However, Ruben Legazpi kept his focus to win 40-36 after 27 shots. This result forced the match to be decided by a 15-point men's doubles match. The Spanish team started better to lead 4-0, the two Vietnamese players led 11-5. Then, Ruben Legazpi and Sergio Jimenez coordinated well to tie the score at 11-11. Vietnam continued to lead 14-12. When both Quyet Chien and Phuong Vinh missed the two shots that ended the match, the two Spanish players scored 2 points to tie the score at 14-14. In the decisive shot, Ruben Legazpi could not succeed.

Bao Phuong Vinh's joy in the final match (Photo: Kozoom).

Finally, in a bad position, Phuong Vinh made a technical shot to score a point to seal a thrilling 15-14 victory, thereby helping the Vietnamese billiards team win the world team championship this year in Germany. Tran Quyet Chien (40 years old) is the world's number two player, having won the World Cup three times. Bao Phuong Vinh (29 years old) won the World Championship last year in his first time participating in the tournament. The world team championship of these two players helped Vietnamese billiards capture all the world titles. Previously, 7 countries did the same: Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, Japan and South Korea.

3-cushion is the most popular form of carom in billiards, originating from France, now appearing mainly in Europe, East Asia and some South American countries, but rarely seen in English-speaking countries. Therefore, the prize money for the world champion in carom is lower than other forms of billiards such as snooker or pool.

Dantri.com.vn

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