Identifying Tran Quyet Chien's first opponent at the Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup

Tran Quyet Chien meets strong Turkish player

The 2025 Ho Chi Minh City 3-Cushion Billiards World Cup will take place from May 19 to 25 at Nguyen Du Stadium (District 1). In the home leg, the Vietnamese billiards team will have 30 players competing. Of which, 5 Vietnamese players will be given special permission to appear from the main round (round 32), led by Tran Quyet Chien (number 1 seed, ranked 4th on the World Carom Billiards Federation - UMB) rankings.

Tran Quyet Chien is in group D. Accordingly, Quyet Chien's first opponent is Turkish player - Berkay Karakurt. The remaining two players in group D will be determined after the qualifying rounds end.

Tran Quyet Chien competes at the 2024 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup

PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE

Berkay Karakurt is currently ranked 13th on the UMB rankings. This is a very formidable player from Türkiye. Berkay Karakurt often goes deep in the World Cup stages, but has not had enough luck to win the championship. However, in terms of class, Tran Quyet Chien is still considered higher.

Which group are Thanh Luc and Phuong Vinh in?

Similar to Tran Quyet Chien, Tran Thanh Luc and Bao Phuong Vinh are two players in the top 14 of UMB and are set to appear in the round of 32 of the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup. Tran Thanh Luc (ranked 5th at UMB) is in Group E with Martin Horn (German, ranked 12th). Bao Phuong Vinh (ranked 14th) is in Group C with veteran Belgian player Eddy Merckx (ranked 3rd) and Le Thanh Tien. Nguyen Van Tri is in Group B with Korean "prodigy" Cho Myung-woo (ranked 2nd).

Accordingly, Le Thanh Tien and Nguyen Van Tri will participate in the round of 32 of the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup thanks to the special privilege given to the host unit.

World Cup billiards round 32 competition format

Round of 32 has 8 groups (4 players each), playing in a round-robin to calculate points and rank, playing 40 points with the same turn. The top two players in each group will have the right to play in the round of 16, knock-out (no draws).

The players who will compete from the final qualifying round include Chiem Hong Thai, the reigning Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup champion Tran Duc Minh and Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu. Outstanding international players such as “genius” Frederic Caudron (Belgium), Tobjorn Blomdahl (Sweden), Jeremy Bury (France), Kim Haeng-jik (Korea) will also compete in the final qualifying round.

Bao Phuong Vinh is in the same group with teammate Le Thanh Tien.

PHOTO: INDEPENDENCE

Dao Van Ly will compete from the third qualifying round. Nguyen Hoan Tat, Thon Viet Hoang Minh and Nguyen Chi Long will compete from the second qualifying round. The remaining Vietnamese players will compete from the first qualifying round, including commentator Le Phuoc Minh Dien.

This is the first time Minh Dien has competed in a World Cup billiards tournament. Notably, the commentator born in 1984 will participate in the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup with two roles: a competing athlete and the only official Vietnamese commentator of the tournament. It is known that commentator Minh Dien will compete in the 2025 Ho Chi Minh City Billiards World Cup with a sponsor slot. He shared: "As a 3-cushion billiards player, participating in a World Cup billiards tournament is a great honor. This is an opportunity for me to challenge myself and pursue my passion. My ability to compete is not high. However, I will try my best to go as far as possible. Opportunities like this are a great motivation for me to maintain my passion."

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/xac-dinh-doi-thu-dau-tien-cua-tran-quyet-chien-tai-world-cup-billiards-tphcm-185250430114418893.htm