In the quarter-finals, Quyet Chien will face Kim Haeng Jik (Korea, world No. 9); while Hong Thai will face veteran Martin Horn (Germany, world No. 15).

Quyet Chien and Kim Haeng Jik were neck and neck in every point right from the start of the match. Kim Haeng Jik launched a streak of 11 points to take a 17-7 lead. However, Quyet Chien had two streaks of 8 points to overcome his opponent. After that, Kim Haeng Jik was no longer himself as he continuously missed easy shots, while Quyet Chien played steadily to win the match with a score of 50-31.

Tran Quyet Chien and Chiem Hong Thai won the right to enter the semi-finals of the 3-cushion billiards World Cup Porto 2023. Photo: TNO

In the quarter-final match next door, Hong Thai and Martin Horn had a rather slow start. When the score was 38-38, the 1999-born Vietnamese player took advantage of Martin Horn's slowdown to continuously score points and end the match with a 50-44 victory, thereby entering the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time.

With this victory, Hong Thai will face Quyet Chien in the semi-final match taking place on the evening of July 2 (Vietnam time) and Vietnamese 3-cushion carom billiards will certainly have a place in the final match of the Porto World Cup. The remaining semi-final match will be between Marco Zanetti (Italy, ranked 2nd in the world) and Sameh Sidhom (Egypt, ranked 8th in the world).

Billiards World Cup is a 3-cushion carom tournament that takes place in many stages throughout the year. Porto is the third stage in 2023 after Las Vegas and Ho Chi Minh City. After 5 years, Vietnam's 3-cushion carom billiards has a player who has qualified for the World Cup semi-finals. Previously in 2018, Ngo Dinh Nai met Nguyen Quoc Nguyen in the World Cup semi-finals held in Ho Chi Minh City.

HOAI PHUONG (synthesis)