Tran Quyet Chien meets 'rock' in knockout round

Of the five Vietnamese players who came to Colombia to compete in the 2025 Bogota Billiards World Cup, Bao Phuong Vinh is the only one who has stopped so far. The player from Binh Duong could not get past the group. The rest, Tran Quyet Chien, Tran Duc Minh, Chiem Hong Thai and Tran Thanh Luc have excellently won tickets to the knockout round (16 players), taking place from tonight, March 1.

Tran Quyet Chien faces world number 1

In the round of 16, the players will compete in a knockout format, hitting 50 points (no turns). Accordingly, Tran Quyet Chien will face a big challenge when he meets the player currently ranked number 1 in the world, Dick Jaspers (Netherlands). This match will take place at 11 p.m. (Vietnam time).

Tran Quyet Chien had a hard time facing the world's number 1 player in the round of 16.

In 2024, Dick Jaspers won the title of "best player of the year" of the World Carom Billiards Federation (UMB). Tran Quyet Chien tied with Jaspers in the race for this title, but unfortunately only finished in 2nd place. Vietnam's number 1 player lost on the secondary index (achievement in the most recent World Cup).

Tran Thanh Luc will face Roland Forthomme in round 16, also at 11pm.

The most impressive Vietnamese player in round 32 was Chiem Hong Thai. The player born in 1999 advanced with a perfect record of winning all 3 matches, especially defeating Eddy Meckx (Belgium, 13-time World Cup champion). In round 16, Chiem Hong Thai will face the "living legend" of the world's 3-cushion carom billiards village, Torbjorn Blomdahl (Sweden, record holder with 46 World Cup championships), at 1:30 a.m. on March 2 (Vietnam time).

Tran Duc Minh will also play in the round of 16 at 1:30 a.m. on March 2 (Vietnam time), against Berkay Karakurt (Türkiye).

The remaining matches of the round of 16 include: Jeremy Bury (France) vs Peter Ceulemans (Belgium) at 11pm, Sameh Sidhom (Egypt) vs Eddy Merckx (Belgium) at 11pm, Tasdemir Tayfun (Turkey) vs Kim Haeng-jik (South Korea) at 1:30am, Kim Jun-tae (South Korea) vs Tolgahan Kiraz (Türkiye) at 1:30am.

All matches are broadcast live on the SOOP Live platform (link: https://billiards.sooplive.co.kr/schedule?sub1=schedule)

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-billiards-hom-nay-tran-quyet-chien-gap-da-tang-o-vong-knock-out-18525030111372036.htm