Vietnamese player defeats 13-time World Cup champion

(Dan Tri) - Billiard player Dao Van Ly made a big splash at the Seoul 2024 Billiards World Cup when he won against Eddy Merckx - the Belgian legend who won the World Cup 13 times.

The final round of the Seoul 2024 Billiards World Cup officially kicked off in Korea on the morning of November 8, with Vietnam having four representatives including Tran Quyet Chien, Bao Phuong Vinh, Nguyen Hoan Tat and Dao Van Ly.

In the opening match of Group E, Vietnamese player Dao Van Ly, although not highly rated, created a big shock when he defeated Belgium's number one player and 13-time World Cup champion, Eddy Merckx.

Eddy Merckx also made a big mark when he won the World Cup 4 times in Korea in 2014, 2018, 2019 and 2023.

Billiard player Dao Van Ly won convincingly against Belgian legend Eddy Merckx in the opening match of the group stage of the Seoul 2024 Billiards World Cup (Photo: UMB).

In this match, Van Ly played confidently, scoring from 6 to 9 points many times in a turn, with an average performance of over 3 points, and convincingly won against Eddy Merckx with a score of 40-24.

Van Ly's excellent performance left the Belgian player with almost no chance to change the situation of the match. After this victory, Van Ly has two more matches against Torbjorn Blomdahl (Sweden) and Lee Beom Yeol (Korea).

Besides Van Ly, another Vietnamese player, Tran Quyet Chien, also easily won against Roland Forthomme of Belgium with a score of 40-27 in the opening match of Group B.

Notably, Roland Forthomme is also a veteran player in the world, having won the World Cup twice in a row in 2005 and 2006, and is also one of four people holding the world record for the best three-cushion shot with a series of 28 points.

Tran Quyet Chien also had a smooth start when he won against Roland Forthomme (Photo: UMB).

Tran Quyet Chien will continue to have two more matches with Jeong Je Sung at 12:00 and Seo Chang Hoon at 16:00.

Notably, one of Vietnam's expected players, Bao Phuong Vinh, suffered a defeat in the opening match when he lost to Sameh Sidhom with a score of 30-40 in Group H. This was the second time Phuong Vinh had lost consecutively to an Egyptian player.

The remaining Vietnamese player present at the Seoul 2024 Billiards World Cup Finals, Nguyen Hoan Tat, also lost in the opening match against Marco Zanetti (Italy) in Group F.

The Vietnamese player also achieved a high scoring performance, with 36 points in 12 turns (averaging 3 points/turn). However, Marco Zanetti showed great experience and courage when he won 40-36 against Nguyen Hoan Tat.

Dao Van Ly, Nguyen Hoan Tat and Bao Phuong Vinh will continue to play the second round of the 32nd round of the Seoul 2024 Billiards World Cup at 2:00 p.m.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/co-thu-viet-nam-danh-bai-huyen-thoai-13-lan-vo-dich-world-cup-20241108134928150.htm