Billiards: Identifying Tran Quyet Chien's opponent at the world championship

The 2025 Carom Billiards World Championship brings together 48 players to compete. Tran Quyet Chien's opponents have also been revealed.

The World Championship is the most prestigious tournament in the tournament system of the World Carom Billiards Federation (UMB). The 2025 World Championship will take place in Belgium from October 14 to 18, bringing together 48 excellent players to compete. Of which, the defending champion Cho Myung-woo (Korea) and the top 16 players on the world rankings (the version with points in national and continental tournaments) will automatically participate. In addition, players will also participate according to the quota of their member federations: Europe has 13 quotas, America has 8 quotas, Asia has 5 quotas, Africa and the Middle East have 3 quotas. In addition, the organizing committee will award 2 wildcards to players from the host federation (Belgium).

Tran Quyet Chien "breathes easy"

Vietnam has 5 representatives competing: Tran Quyet Chien, Tran Thanh Luc, Chiem Hong Thai, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu and Bao Phuong Vinh. Of which, Quyet Chien, Thanh Luc and Hong Thai are 3 names in the top 16 on the rankings. Phuong Vinh and Thanh Tu are 2 representatives of Asia. Quyet Chien is in group D with Luis Sobreyra (Mexico), Lee Beom-yeol (Korea). Tran Thanh Luc is in group F with Jose Miguel Soares (Portugal), Pedro Gonzalez (Colombia). Thanh Tu is in group J with Heo Jung-han (Korea), Carlos Anguita (Spain). Phuong Vinh is in group M with Tolgahan Kiraz (Türkiye) and Luis Bahamondes (Chile), Hong Thai is in group P with Roland Forthomme (Belgium) and Bart Ceulemans (Belgium).

Tran Quyet Chien and Tran Thanh Luc are the number 1 seeds, so they are in quite "easy" groups. Meanwhile, the remaining Vietnamese players are in difficult groups, with the appearance of a strong player. Accordingly, 48 players are divided equally into 16 groups (4 people each), playing a round robin to calculate points and rank. The top two players in each group advance to the round of 32.

Tran Quyet Chien won the runner-up position in the World Championship in 2023.

PHOTO: UMB

This tournament sees the return of Frederic Caudron. He participates as a player who received a wild card from the host country (Belgium). This is the first time the Belgian billiards genius has participated in the World Championship, since returning to UMB in May 2024. The player born in 1968 has won the 3-cushion carom billiards world championship 3 times, in 1999, 2013 and 2017 respectively.

Besides Caudron, the 2025 World Championship promises to be more dramatic with the return of the legend Torbjorn Blomdahl. Previously, the veteran Swedish player suffered an Achilles tendon injury in May, causing him to miss many important tournaments. The Swedish legend has recovered and is ready to return to the most prestigious arena. Accordingly, Blomdahl will participate as a representative of the European Billiards Federation. Blomdahl was born in 1962 (63 years old), owns a huge record of 46 World Cup billiards titles and 7 world championships. He is considered one of the greatest players in history, a living legend of the world's 3-cushion carom village.

Frederic Caudron is in Group N with two Korean players, Kim Haeng-jik and Choi Wang-young. Torbjorn Blomdahl is in Group O with Berkay Karakurt (Türkiye) and Ronny Brants (Belgium).

Groups at World Championship 2025

PHOTO: CMH

Vietnam has 1 world championship in 3-cushion carom billiards

The best achievement of Vietnamese billiards at the World Championship arena is the championship of Bao Phuong Vinh. The final match of the 2023 World Championship witnessed an internal Vietnamese competition between Bao Phuong Vinh and Tran Quyet Chien. Phuong Vinh, at that time, played with sublime form and defeated his experienced senior to win the championship.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/billiards-xac-dinh-doi-thu-cua-tran-quyet-chien-tai-giai-vo-dich-the-gioi-185250913095316277.htm