Billiards player Tran Duc Minh: "I won the World Cup thanks to... luck"

(Dan Tri) - Billiard player Tran Duc Minh surprised everyone when he defeated many strong opponents to win the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup held in Ho Chi Minh City last May.

Not Tran Quyet Chien, nor Bao Phuong Vinh (the famous players in the 3-cushion carom billiards village of Vietnam at the present time), the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup championship held in Ho Chi Minh City in May unexpectedly belonged to 43-year-old player Tran Duc Minh. The victory became an important historical milestone for player Tran Duc Minh, when he conquered the World Cup championship for the first time. At the same time, defeating world number 4 player Kim Tae Jun in the final helped him become the second player in the Vietnamese carom billiards village to step up to the highest position of this tournament (after player Tran Quyet Chien). At the time of the 3-cushion carom World Cup final, the Dong Nai player was only ranked 250 in the World Cup seeding table and 451 in the world. Therefore, Korean player Kim Tae Jun could not have expected that a player who was almost unknown internationally would make him miss the opportunity to win the championship.

Billiard player Tran Duc Minh defeated strong opponents to win the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup championship held in Ho Chi Minh City at the end of May (Photo: Hai Long).

The "earthquake" at the recent Carom 3 World Cup final helped Duc Minh jump 378 places from 415th in the world to 37th in the world. From now on, the player born in 1981 will have many opportunities to improve his ranking by accumulating points at the World Cup stages in Porto - Portugal (July), the 3-cushion Carom Grand Prix in Korea (August) and especially the 2024 Carom 3-cushion World Championship to be held in Binh Thuan (September). Dan Tri had a conversation with the new world champion. In the billiards world, the name Tran Duc Minh suddenly shined when he unexpectedly won the World Cup championship in May. How do you feel now after the championship? - It's true that before participating in the tournament, I didn't think I would win the championship because my opponents were all world-class players. There are many people I have faced and lost to before. But because I knew I was the underdog, I competed with a relaxed mentality, completely without any pressure. Perhaps that was also an advantage when I faced my opponents and was lucky to win. However, after a while since winning the championship, my life has returned to normal, I still sell billiards accessories and run my newly opened billiards club business. Although I am very happy with the championship, I will keep this title as a beautiful memory of the past and prepare for new goals in the future. In a recent speech, you said that your championship was somewhat lucky. But it seems that you are a bit modest, because to win the championship you had to overcome many experts, such as the player who just ranked number 1 in the world Tran Quyet Chien or the Korean player Kim Jun Tae (ranked 4th in the world) on the way to the championship, what do you think about this? - I think in sports in general and in life in particular, success often requires a little luck. With billiards, I think luck accounts for about 30% of success. But in the last tournament, it seemed like I had 50% luck. I was lucky not just in one match but seemed lucky throughout the entire tournament.

However, to turn luck into success, I myself have to improve my skills every day. If you do not have real ability, do not have real ability, you cannot defeat one person after another, you cannot expect luck with just one stroke, but also know how to overcome difficult situations and situations over a long journey. You must have real ability so that when you have an opportunity, you can grasp and make the most of it. What was the opportunity for you to come to billiards and pursue your passion, especially when you did not have proper training or investment like other athletes? - I have been passionate about billiards since I was a child, but because I did not have access to a professional environment and did not have a direction, I only competed at the amateur level. There was a time when my family's economy was difficult, so I stopped playing billiards for about 10 years. In 2011, my job had free time, so I practiced playing again. It was not until now that I started playing 3-cushion carom. Saying that so everyone knows that I came to 3-cushion carom quite late. It was not until 2014 that I started competing in billiards. At first, I only had small achievements at the commune and ward levels, then achievements at the district and provincial levels. Since then, it was not that I chose the profession but the profession chose me without realizing it. Because when I started playing, the initial purpose was just for fun, to satisfy my passion, not thinking that I would become a professional. As you shared, having to worry about "food and money" sometimes prevented you from pursuing your passion, so what was the most difficult time that made you think you had to give up? - My most difficult time was in 2015. That year, I was passionate about playing billiards and my business was not going well, so I had a lot of financial difficulties. At that time, my wife gave birth to our second child and neither of us had jobs. I still remember when I took my wife to give birth, I didn’t have a single thousand dong in my pocket and had to borrow money from friends everywhere. The difficult circumstances at that time forced me to stop playing billiards and go to work as a factory worker to support my family. In my spare time, I also helped my wife sell spring rolls to earn extra income. In 2016 (after more than a year of not competing), I was unexpectedly called to the provincial billiards team by the head coach of Dong Nam province, Mr. Lam Dat. From then on, I had the opportunity to play again and pursue my passion.

The moment of celebration of player Tran Duc Minh after defeating Kim Tae Jun in the final match of the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup held in Ho Chi Minh City in May (Photo: Hai Long).

Many people think that professional billiards players only play billiards when they no longer have to worry about their family finances, but you are the opposite. Is that a big obstacle that prevents you from fully developing your talent? - In fact, I have always played billiards because of my passion. Because of my passion, I always try to save and work hard to pursue it. For the recent 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup championship, I received 16,000 euros (about 400 million VND). I have never received such a large amount of money in my career. Thanks to this money, I have greatly reduced the burden of opening my own billiards club at the end of May. I have never dreamed of opening my own billiards club like this. For the past few years, my wife and I have rented a small house, just enough to fit a 3-cushion carom table. I use that house to practice and instruct students who are passionate and want to study. Now that I have more money, I rent a larger space to fit 6 tables to train students as well as rent by the hour.

World number 1 player Tran Quyet Chien congratulates Tran Duc Minh on winning the championship (Photo: Hai Long).

I opened the billiards club at the same time as I was participating in the 3-cushion billiards World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City. After the recent championship, I opened the club and received a lot of love and support from everyone. I hope that the club will do well, helping me improve my life and also be a place to connect and share my passion with everyone. What are your goals in the near future, when your competition schedule from now until the end of the year seems quite busy? - I don't focus on achievements when participating in tournaments, but I try to compete as best as I can. Of course, I also hope to achieve more great achievements in my career, thereby passing on those successful experiences to future generations. Thank you for this interesting conversation!

Dantri.com.vn

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/co-thu-tran-duc-minh-toi-vo-dich-world-cup-nho-may-man-20240615154422237.htm