Vietnamese player eliminated 2 legends at the same time at the World Cup billiards
Báo Dân trí•25/10/2024
Right from the first round of the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup held in Vegel (Netherlands), Vietnamese players showed great performance.
Tran Quyet Chien showed impressive performance in the group stage with 3 wins in a row - Photo: DUC PHONG
From the evening of October 24 to the early morning of October 25, the players entered the official round of the Vegel Billiards World Cup. In the first round, 32 players were divided into 8 groups. The top 2 players in each group won tickets to the knockout round. On the first official day of competition, many Vietnamese players showed impressive performance. Notably, group B had 3 Vietnamese players: Tran Quyet Chien, Tran Thanh Luc and Le Thanh Tien. The remaining player in this group was the host country's player Glenn Hofman (ranked 24th in the world). Tran Quyet Chien quickly showed his class as a player who has been in the world's top 10 for many years when he won all 3 matches. In which, he had an overwhelming 40-3 victory over Glenn Hofman. In the remaining matches, he defeated Tran Thanh Luc with a score of 40-28 and Le Thanh Tien 40-38. At the end of round 1, Tran Quyet Chien won the top spot in Group B. The current runner-up of the World 3-cushion carom billiards tournament, Tran Thanh Luc, also achieved good form when he finished second in this group.
Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu caused a shock when he eliminated two legends, Torbjorn Blomdahl and Eddy Merckx - Photo: DUC PHONG
In Group E, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu (ranked 42nd in the world) created a big shock. In the opening match, he unexpectedly defeated Torbjorn Blomdahl (ranked 11th) 40-28. After that, he lost to Nikos Polychro (ranked 18th) 29-40 and Eddy Merckx (ranked 4th) 34-40. At the end of the group stage, Polychro was in first place with 3 wins. The rest, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu, Torbjorn Blomdahl and Eddy Merckx all had 1 win, 2 losses. However, the Vietnamese player with a better performance (1,537 points/round) won second place in the group and a ticket to the next round. This was a big shock at the Vegel Billiards World Cup, when both Torbjorn Blomdahl and Eddy Merckx, both legends of the 3-cushion carom village, were eliminated early. Among them, Torbjorn Blomdahl holds the record of 46 World Cup titles and Eddy Merckx also owns 13 of these titles. An unfortunate case is that of Bao Phuong Vinh in Group H. In the opening match, he suffered an unbelievable reverse loss to Turgay Orak. The Vietnamese player led by a safe margin of 39-25 but could not finish the match. Meanwhile, Orak was "possessed" in the final rounds, including a series of 15 points to win narrowly 40-39. In the second round, Bao Phuong Vinh still could not win when he let Cha Myeong Jong hold him to a 40-40 draw. The Vietnamese player, who won the world championship in 2023, was finally eliminated after losing to Sameh Sidhom 40-32 in the third round.
Bao Phuong Vinh was eliminated early at the Vegel Billiards World Cup - Photo: DUC KHUE
Bao Phuong Vinh even finished last in Group H. This is a regrettable result, as he achieved an impressive scoring efficiency of 2,522 points per turn but could not win any matches. From the afternoon of October 25, the players will compete in round 2. From this round, the matches will take place in a knockout format. Tran Quyet Chien will face world-ranked player Cha Myeong Jong. Tran Thanh Luc will face 13th-ranked player Kiraz Tolgahan. Meanwhile, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu will face a big challenge when facing Sameh Sidhom (ranked 8).
Vegel Billiards World Cup Round 2 Schedule - Photo: UMB
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