The echoes of player Tran Thanh Luc's victory at the Bogota World Cup (March 3, in Colombia) have not yet subsided in the hearts of fans when Vietnamese carom billiards continues to shine at the Men's World Team Championship held in Viersen - Germany last weekend.
Even experts are cautious when assessing the chances of the Vietnamese team defending their title at this tournament. In theory, the duo Tran Quyet Chien - Bao Phuong Vinh are still very strong, but the defending champions will face many challenges right from the group stage when they have to face two "giants" Belgium and Sweden (along with Jordan).
Not only that, after passing the group stage with an undefeated record (winning against Jordan, drawing with Belgium and Sweden), the two Vietnamese players will have to compete with Mexico and Belgium before facing the powerful Dutch team in the final. Having won the world championship three times, the Netherlands aims to win the fourth title with the team of players Dick Jaspers (31-time World Cup champion) and Jean Paul de Bruijn (5 times Top 3 World Championship, one time World Champion in 1-cushion event).
Tran Quyet Chien - Bao Phuong Vinh and the 2025 World Runner-up Cup. Photo: UMB
The Netherlands defeated the reigning runner-up Spain in the group stage, then eliminated two formidable opponents, South Korea and Türkiye, to enter the championship match with the Vietnamese team. Dick Jaspers quickly took the lead over Tran Quyet Chien with a 9-point series and when the Vietnamese player counterattacked strongly with an 11-point series, the world's number 1 player took advantage of his opponent's mistake, hitting consecutive series of 6 and 9 points to finish first.
In the remaining match, Bao Phuong Vinh - an undefeated player in the previous 5 singles matches - faced a very brave opponent. He lost to De Bruijn with a score of 34-40 after 28 rounds, receiving his first and only defeat in this year's tournament. Unable to defend the title won last year, the Vietnamese team had to accept the runner-up position in this prestigious tournament.
The homepage of the World Carom Billiards Federation (UMB) praised the achievements of the Dutch team but also paid tribute to the former champion Vietnam in an article summarizing the tournament that just ended in Germany. There is no doubt that with consecutive impressive achievements at the World Cup stages as well as the 2024 and 2025 World Championships, Vietnamese billiards deserves the respect of its opponents.
In June 2024, Tran Quyet Chien rose to the No. 1 position in the world on the UMB rankings. At present, in the Top 35 of the world of carom billiards, Vietnam has 6 representatives, including World Cup champions Tran Quyet Chien, Tran Duc Minh, Tran Thanh Luc, along with Bao Phuong Vinh - the player who won both the individual and team world championships in less than 36 months.
Source: https://nld.com.vn/billiards-carom-viet-nam-the-luc-moi-cua-the-gioi-19625031721264269.htm
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