Famous billiards websites have many compliments for Bao Phuong Vinh - the Vietnamese player who won the biggest 3-cushion carom tournament despite only being a professional for over a year.
Billiards news site Kozoom headlined: "Bao Phuong Vinh - the unbelievable world champion", when referring to the title the 28-year-old player won on the evening of September 10.
In the article, author Frits Bakker wrote: "The list of champions of the most famous billiards tournament had a completely new name on Sunday. Bao Phuong Vinh, a recently unknown player from Vietnam, won the title from Turkey, among the carom stars".
Bao Phuong Vinh at the world 3-cushion carom tournament in Ankara, Türkiye on the evening of September 10, 2023. Photo: UMB
Bakker, 75, is a Dutch billiards player who has been writing about billiards for decades. He wrote that he found it strange and unbelievable to hear the Vietnamese national anthem played at a world championship, and both top players sang the national anthem.
The World Carom 3-Cushion Championship has been held annually since 1928, and has been held 75 times to date. Only three times in history have two players from the same country reached the finals, Argentina in 1938, Belgium in 2017 and Vietnam this year. In the final in Ankara, Phuong Vinh defeated his senior Tran Quyet Chien 50-34 to bring home the first championship for Vietnam. Phuong Vinh only competed internationally for the first time 13 months ago, at the World Cup in Seoul, South Korea.
Bakker said Phuong Vinh's face looked more surprised than happy when he stood on the podium. The young player, who had a master's degree in economics in Australia and spoke fluent English, needed time to realize the significance of his achievement. "In the 75-year history of the tournament, no such newcomer has ever won the championship," Bakker added.
Phuong Vinh received 20,000 euros (about 21,500 USD) for the championship. At the same time, President of the World Billiards Federation (UMB) Farouk Barki said that the prize money at next year's tournament will be doubled, and will take place in Vietnam.
On the UMB homepage, the Federation also headlined: "A star is born: Bao Phuong Vinh". They wrote: "Never before has a player won the championship on his first appearance in the tournament. Phuong Vinh played with talent, concentration and rarely made mistakes in the ball positions that could score points. Before the 28-year-old scored the decisive point, Quyet Chien seemed to realize that today was not his day".
The Korean news site The Billiards also recalled the World Cup in Seoul last year, when Phuong Vinh "appeared like a comet and attracted the attention of experts". At that time, he defeated 2022 world champion Tayfun Tasdemir and legend Torbjorn Blomdahl in the group stage, only to stop against Eddy Merckx in the round of 16. "In the past year, Phuong Vinh has defeated the world's number one and number two players, and four legendary players," the article said.
Another Korean news site, Mkbn , also said that Phuong Vinh is a new star. "Phuong Vinh's billiards career is strange, he became a master's student before playing professionally," the newspaper wrote. "He decided to become a billiards player after witnessing Quyet Chien win the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City in 2018."
Phuong Vinh, 28 years old, from Binh Duong, is an excellent student and received a master's degree in Australia in 2019. In early 2022, he was not even on the UMB rankings, but is currently in the Top 10.
Vnexpress.net
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