Vietnamese cueist wins silver at Asian championship

In the final, Luc failed to create a surprise when he lost to South Korea’s Cho Myung-woo 20-50 after 16 turns. The South Korean player, who won the Three-Cushion World Cup champion in Egypt in last December, is currently ranked 11th in the world, with an average score of 3.125 per shot.

He beat Luc to win his first Asian championship.

Vietnam had five players that reached the quarterfinals, including Tran Quyet Chien, Bao Phuong Vinh, Nguyen Thanh That and Chiem Hong Thai, while South Korea had two representatives and Japan had just one.

In the quarter-finals, Luc eliminated the No. 1 player in Vietnam and world No. 10 Quyet Chien 50-42 to enter the semifinals.

In another match between Vietnamese players in the quarterfinals, Vinh beat That 50-29.

Thai also beat Japan’s Sakai Nobuyasu 50-43 to become the third player of Vietnam to enter the semifinals. None of the three were ranked within the world’s top 50.

Luc defeated Vinh 50-45 in the semifinals to enter the final. In the remaining semifinal, Cho quickly beat Hong Thai 50-20. The 25-year-old South Korean player won against Luc with the same score in the final to keep the trophy in South Korea.

The Asian Three-Cushion tournament takes place annually under the World Federation of Billiards (UMB). Young Vietnamese players will significantly improve their position on the ranking after going so far at the tournament.

The 2023 Asian Three-Cushion Championship was held for the first time after a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19. This year’s tournament took place from March 23 to 26 in Gangwon.