Vietnam dominates player representation at world billiards championship

The six Vietnamese players—Bao Phuong Vinh, Tran Quyet Chien, Nguyen Van Tai, Tran Thanh Luc, Le Thanh Tien, and Tran Duc Minh—will compete in the tournament held in central Binh Thuan Province. Among them, Phuong Vinh is the defending champion, Quyet Chien is ranked in the world’s top 16, Van Tai and Thanh Luc qualified through Asian tournaments, and Thanh Tien and Duc Minh secured their spots via additional slots allocated to the host nation.

This marks the first time Vietnam has hosted the prestigious Three-Cushion World Championship, which has been held annually since 1928. In 2023, in Ankara, Turkey, Vinh stunned the billiards world by winning the championship in his debut appearance. He remains the only Vietnamese player to have won this tournament. Chien and Minh, on the other hand, have claimed titles at the Three-Cushion World Cup, a tournament held multiple times a year.

The 2024 championship features 48 spots: one for the defending champion, 16 for the world’s top-ranked players, 13 for Europe, eight for the Americas, five for Asia, and three for Africa. The remaining two spots are chosen by the host nation. The players are divided into 16 groups of three, competing in a round-robin format, with the top two players from each group advancing to the round of 16.

South Korea follows Vietnam with five representatives, including players like Kim Jun-tae, Cho Myung-woo, Heo Jung-han, Kim Haeng-jik, and Seo Chang-hoon. Turkey has four competitors, led by former champion Tayfun Tasdemir, along with Tolgahan Kiraz, Berkay Karakurt, and Turgay Orak. No other country has more than two athletes participating.

In 2023, Vinh and Chien faced off in the final of this tournament, and both are currently ranked among the top three players globally, following Dick Jaspers of the Netherlands. Minh is also anticipated to be a strong contender, especially after his victory at the Three-Cushion World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City in May 2024.

Despite their current ban by the Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) and the World Pool Association (WPA), Vietnamese players are eligible to compete in the Three-Cushion World Championship, which is organized by the World Billiards Federation and operates independently of the ACBS and WPA.