Vietnamese cueist among world’s top three

Chien’s result in Ankara, Turkey earned him 54 more points on the world ranking, according to the latest update from World Union of Billiards (UMB). The 38-year-old has 337 points, behind Italia’s Marco Zanetti with 381 points and Dutch champion Dick Jaspers with 596.

In the World Cup final on Sunday, Chien lost 23-50 to Jaspers.

UMB counts 80 points for a world title and 54 for runner-up. Aside from Chien, no Vietnamese player made it through the qualifier.

Vietnam has three other players in the world’s top 25: Nguyen Duc Anh Chien, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Do Nguyen Trung Hau. Vietnam are only behind South Korea (with five) in the number of top 25 players.

After the Three-Cushion World Cup, Vietnamese cueists will prepare for Three-Cushion Team World Championships, which will take place from March 10 to 13 in Viersen, Germany. Quyet Chien and Anh Chien will be the main players, while Quoc Nguyen serves as back up. Vietnam’s best result at the tournament was reaching the quarterfinals.