World Cup billiards: Continuously launching series, Vietnamese players convincingly win the opening match

Two out of four Vietnamese players played brilliantly, winning the opening match of the fourth qualifying round of the Porto 2025 Billiards World Cup (Portugal).

On the afternoon of July 2, 4 Vietnamese players entered the field in the fourth qualifying round of the 2025 Porto World Cup billiards, namely Nguyen Chi Long, Thon Viet Hoang Minh, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu and Dao Van Ly. Of which, Thanh Tu was given a special entry from this round, and he is also the reigning Vietnamese national champion.

Chi Long and the Vietnamese player took the field first. He won 40-35 against Serdal Bas (Türkiye), after 31 rounds. In which, Chi Long had a series of 8, 7 and 5 points.

The best Vietnamese player in the opening match of the fourth qualifying round was Thon Viet Hoang Minh. Hoang Minh played brilliantly, continuously launching series to defeat Jorrissen (Netherlands) with a score difference of 40-19, after only 14 rounds (achieving an index of 2.857 points/round). In the last two rounds of the match, Hoang Minh had series of 11 and 7 points respectively.

Thon Viet Hoang Minh played excellently in the opening match of the fourth qualifying round of the Porto 2025 Billiards World Cup.

PHOTO: UMB

Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu lost his first match at the 2025 Porto Billiards World Cup.

Champion Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu was highly anticipated, but unexpectedly suffered a defeat in the opening match of the fourth qualifying round. Thanh Tu faced a difficult situation and was stuck in scoring. After 18 shots, Thanh Tu only scored 3 points. It was not until the 19th shot that Thanh Tu had a series of 5 points. The Vietnamese champion lost 25-40 to Salazar (Colombia), after 27 shots.

Dao Van Ly lost 29-40 to Hwang Bong-joo (Korea), after 25 innings.

Nguyen Chi Long and Thon Viet Hoang Minh won their first match, so they have a good chance of advancing to the main round (32 players). Meanwhile, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu and Dao Van Ly still have a chance.

In the decisive match taking place tonight (July 2), Nguyen Chi Long will meet Glenn Hofman (Netherlands), while Hoang Minh will face Roland Forthomme (Belgium). Hofman and Forthomme are both strong players.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu met Omer Karakurt (Türkiye), Dao Van Ly clashed with Gokhan Salman (Türkiye).

The fourth qualifying round of the Porto 2025 Billiards World Cup has 36 players competing, divided equally into 12 groups (3 players each), competing in a round-robin format with points and rankings, and even rounds (with a draw). The first place players in each group and the 3 best second place players will advance to the main round (32 players).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/world-cup-billiards-lien-tiep-tung-seri-co-thuat-viet-nam-thang-thuyet-phuc-tran-ra-quan-185250702193423712.htm