Quyet Chien, Quoc Nguyen defeated two former world champions

Two top Vietnamese players, yesterday, May 26, played excellently against Sanchez (Spain) and Semih Sayginer (Türkiye) in the round of 16 of the 3-cushion carom Billiards World Cup taking place in Ho Chi Minh City.

Daniel Sanchez, nicknamed "the wizard", is ranked second in the world and is in impressive form. But having defeated this player in a previous World Cup Series tournament, Tran Quyet Chien is still expected to bring joy to the home audience.

And not disappointing that expectation, the player from Ca Mau entered the game very confidently and calmly. Quyet Chien continuously took the lead right from the first shots. However, Sanchez still proved his class, equalizing and then taking the lead from the home player.

Quyet Chien unexpectedly won with a 10-point difference against the current world number two Sanchez. Photo: Nguyen Phuong.

At the 14th cue, it seemed like Quyet Chien would have to stop early when the former Spanish world champion led 28-20. But with a brilliant shot, Quyet Chien turned the situation around, scoring 16 consecutive points to lead 36-28. On the excitement, the Vietnamese player went straight to victory 40-30.

Quoc Nguyen, ranked 13th in the world, faced Semih Sayginer, the 2003 world champion and currently ranked 20th in the world. True to his title of "King of Dance", this Turkish player continuously had amazing "ball-sweeping" shots, achieving 100% accuracy, surprising the audience and opponents. Thanks to this forte, Semih always led Quoc Nguyen by six to eight points.

Quoc Nguyen struggled a bit, but still excellently defeated veteran opponent Semih. Photo: Nguyen Phuong.

It was not until the 18th turn that the Vietnamese player scored 10 consecutive points, to take the lead for the first time 30-27. From this fragile advantage, Quoc Nguyen played solidly, waiting for the opportunity to end the match. That opportunity came in the 23rd turn, when he led 34-33, the Gia Lai native scored six points to complete the 40-33 victory, advancing to the round of 16.

Do Nguyen Trung Hau could not create a surprise like his two teammates, when he lost to Eddy Merckx. Trung Hau, Ma Minh Cam, Ma Xuan Cuong and Ho Hoang Hung all had to stop after yesterday. The home team's hope from today's round of 16 will be placed on Quyet Chien and Quoc Nguyen.

According to VNE