Billiards World Games semi-final schedule today: Tran Quyet Chien gets closer to his dream title

How excellent is Tran Quyet Chien?

In the 3-cushion carom billiards event of the 2025 World Games held in Chengdu (China), Tran Quyet Chien's journey created many emotions for Vietnamese fans. In the group stage, the number 1 Vietnamese player opened with a "tense as a string" match with Jeremy Bury (France), even almost losing if he did not make good use of the back-pa turn (tied 40-40). Then, Quyet Chien made the audience's heart stop when he narrowly won 40-38 against Luis Martinez and advanced to the quarter-finals as the group leader.

Lịch thi đấu bán kết billiards World Games hôm nay: Trần Quyết Chiến tiến gần danh hiệu mơ ước- Ảnh 1. — Tran Quyet Chien has a great chance to win the first World Games medal of his career.

It can be said that Tran Quyet Chien has not yet reached his best form in the group stage, but the owner of 4 World Cup billiards championships has shown the mettle of a world-class player when meeting formidable opponent Bury again in the quarter-finals. Quyet Chien promptly improved his form and won 40-32. Once again, the 42-year-old player showed his ability to adjust his tactics and mentality extremely quickly before entering the knockout match, where there is no chance to correct mistakes.

With a ticket to the semi-finals, Quyet Chien has come very close to the title he craves - the first World Games medal in his career. Before going to China, Vietnam's number 1 player once confided: "Up to now, I have not owned a World Games medal. Therefore, my goal is to win a medal in this arena." If he wins the semi-finals, Quyet Chien will certainly have at least a silver medal. If he loses, the opportunity to win a bronze medal is still open to him.

In his two previous participations (in Poland in 2017 and the US in 2022), Tran Quyet Chien stopped at the quarter-finals. At this time, the distance to the goal is significantly closer, but there are still many obstacles for the Vietnamese player. In the semi-finals of the 2025 World Games, Tran Quyet Chien faces a big challenge from the reigning world champion of 3-cushion carom billiards Cho Myung-woo. The Korean billiards prodigy is in extremely good form. In less than a month and a half, this player born in 1998 has won 3 championship titles. Cho Myung-woo won the Porto Billiards World Cup (Portugal) on July 5, then won 2 national championships in Korea on July 16 and August 6. In the quarter-finals of the 2025 World Games, Cho Myung-woo defeated his compatriot Heo Jung-han with a score of 40-29.

The 27-year-old also had a poor start to the 2025 World Games, with only 1 draw and 1 loss in the group stage. However, Cho Myung-woo's victory over a strong opponent in the quarter-finals is a sign that he has regained his form. Therefore, the semi-final match between Tran Quyet Chien and Cho Myung-woo at 8am today (August 13) is likely to be very tense and exciting.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lich-thi-dau-ban-ket-billiards-world-games-hom-nay-tran-quyet-chien-tien-gan-danh-hieu-mo-uoc-185250812232515711.htm