Tran Quyet Chien faces big challenge at World Cup billiards

Tran Quyet Chien once set a historic milestone for Vietnamese billiards when he climbed to the top of the rankings of the World Carom Billiards Federation (UMB) in June. But just 1 month later, the player born in 1984 dropped back to his familiar 2nd place, giving way to Dick Jaspers (Netherlands). By the time the 2024 World Championship (September, in Binh Thuan) ended, the Korean "prodigy" Cho Myung-woo had risen to 2nd place, while Tran Quyet Chien dropped to 3rd place.

Tran Quyet Chien has not been in good form recently.

At this time, fans are expecting Tran Quyet Chien to regain his previous position. However, the task of improving his ranking at the upcoming Veghel 2024 World Cup will be a big challenge for Tran Quyet Chien. He may even have difficulty defending his current No. 3 position.

It is difficult because the player who is considered the number 1 player in Vietnam is not in good form. In recent tournaments, Tran Quyet Chien has played below his ability and could not advance far. In the international arena with ranking points, Quyet Chien was eliminated twice from the round of 16 at the 2024 World Championship (September) and the 2024 World Cup Porto (July).

The feasible goal for Tran Quyet Chien (currently with 318 points) at the Veghel World Cup 2024 is to regain the No. 2 position from Cho Myung-woo (with 350 points). The Vietnamese player has a small advantage, as he only needs to defend 18 points (meaning he must enter the round of 16 to maintain his current points), while the Korean "prodigy" must defend 26 points (must reach the quarterfinals to avoid losing points). That's the theory, but in reality, it brings anxiety to Vietnamese billiards fans, as Cho Myung-woo is at the peak of his form. In just over 1 month (from August 25 to September 29), the 1998-born player has won 2 championships, respectively at the World 3 Cushion Survival 2024 and most recently the World Championship 2024, pocketing more than 80,000 USD.

The opponent above Tran Quyet Chien is reaching his peak, while the players in the lower group such as Eddy Merckx (ranked 4th, 294 points) and Kim Jun-tae (ranked 5th, 288 points) are all big names and are waiting to break away. If he cannot regain his form at the 2024 Veghel World Cup and continues to be eliminated early, Vietnam's number 1 player will likely fall out of the top 3 in the world rankings.

11 Vietnamese players to compete in World Cup 2024

Vietnam has 11 players participating in the Veghel World Cup 2024, including: Tran Quyet Chien, Bao Phuong Vinh, Tran Thanh Luc, Tran Duc Minh, Chiem Hong Thai, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu, Thon Viet Hoang Minh, Le Thanh Tien, Nguyen Hoan Tat, Nguyen Chi Long, Nguyen Dinh Luan.

Tran Quyet Chien and Bao Phuong Vinh were set to participate in the final round (round of 32) from the beginning. Tran Quyet Chien was in group B, where there was the appearance of the very strong player Glenn Hofman (Dutch, ranked 24th in the world). Meanwhile, Bao Phuong Vinh fell into group H and determined the first opponent was Sameh Sidhom (Egypt, ranked 8th in the world).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tran-quyet-chien-doi-mat-thu-thach-lon-tai-world-cup-billiards-185241018224834897.htm