Tran Quyet Chien did something rare, excelling in the knockout round as first place.

Tran Quyet Chien got 40 points in just 9 turns.

In the final match of Group B - Round 32 of the 2024 Veghel World Cup taking place on the evening of October 24, Tran Quyet Chien faced the home team player from the Netherlands, Glenn Hofman. Before that, the Vietnamese player had 2 wins, defeating Le Thanh Tien (40-38) and Tran Thanh Luc (40-28). On the other hand, Hofman had 1 loss (against Thanh Luc) and 1 win (against Thanh Tien).

Against Glenn Hofman, Tran Quyet Chien had the right to decide for himself as he only needed a draw to advance to the round of 16. However, the player born in 1984 did not have the mentality of settling for a draw but played with great determination. Continuing the momentum after the victory over world runner-up Thanh Luc, Quyet Chien once again entered the game at an extremely fast pace and created a one-sided game on the table.

Tran Quyet Chien achieved an extremely high scoring efficiency (average 4.444 points/turn) in the final match of round 32, thereby entering the round of 16 of the 2024 Veghel World Cup with the first position in group B.

Glenn Hofman only managed to score 1 point from the start. From then on, Quyet Chien only needed 4 turns to bring the match into the break, leading 22-1. From the first to the fourth turn, the Vietnamese player continuously scored series: 4, 9, 5 and 4 points. In the 9th turn, when leading 30-3, Tran Quyet Chien coolly scored another series of 10 points to win the final 40-3 against Glenn Hofman. Thereby, Quyet Chien won the top spot in the group with 3 wins, being the first person in group B to qualify for the round of 16 (knockout) of the Veghel 2024 World Cup.

Quyet Chien only needed 9 shots to score 40 points, achieving a "huge" scoring efficiency of 4,444 points/shot. This is a rare scoring efficiency in professional 3-cushion carom billiards, especially in matches with 40 points or more.

Following in the footsteps of his senior Tran Quyet Chien, Tran Thanh Luc also convincingly won a ticket to the knockout round. In group B, Thanh Luc was only defeated by Quyet Chien.

According to statistics from the International Billiards Union (UMB), the record for scoring efficiency in the World Cup stages is currently held by Semir Sayginer (Türkiye, currently playing for PBA). In the World Cup stage in France in 2018, Sayginer scored 40 points in just 6 shots, achieving an efficiency of 6.666 points/shot.

Thus, Tran Quyet Chien has certainly successfully defended his current score (318 points) when entering the round of 16 of the 2024 Veghel World Cup. Quyet Chien's goal is certainly to go further to get extra points, thereby nurturing the hope of reclaiming the world's No. 2 position or at least accumulating points to wait for the opportunity to rise in the following tournaments.

Thanh Luc follows in the footsteps of his seniors

In the match at the same time, Tran Thanh Luc faced Le Thanh Tien. After a stumble against Tran Quyet Chien in the second round, the runner-up of the 2024 World Championship returned to his old self and played brilliantly. Thanh Luc beat Thanh Tien 40-25 after 12 rounds. Thanh Luc also had a high scoring efficiency, averaging 3.333 points/round.

With a record of 2 wins and 1 loss, Tran Thanh Luc followed Tran Quyet Chien in group B, getting a ticket to the round of 16.

Bao Phuong Vinh has not had any luck at the 2024 Veghel World Cup

Bao Phuong Vinh stopped walking

Bao Phuong Vinh lost 32-40 to Sameh Sidhom in the final match on the morning of October 25. With a record of 1 draw and 2 losses, the Binh Duong player said goodbye to the tournament. Similarly, Nguyen Hoan Tat could not continue after losing all 3 matches in the round of 32.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu also lost 34-40 to Eddy Merckx (Belgium) in the final match. However, his record of 1 win, 2 losses and 1,537 points (points/round) was enough for Thanh Tu to finish second in Group E and qualify for the round of 16.

The player nicknamed "genius" Caudron also appeared in the round of 16.

In Group A, Frederic Caudron also won a ticket to the round of 16 with a record of 2 wins and 1 draw.

Thus, Vietnamese billiards has 3 representatives competing in the round of 16 including: Tran Quyet Chien, Tran Thanh Luc and Nguyen Tran Thanh Tu. The round of 16 of the 2024 World Cup will be played in a knockout format, starting from 5:00 p.m. on October 25 (Vietnam time).

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/tran-quyet-chien-lam-dieu-hiem-co-xuat-sac-vao-vong-knock-out-voi-ngoi-nhat-185241025011518867.htm