Nguyen Duc Anh Chien, ranked 517th in the world, struck the billiards world with a shocking 30-18 victory against 1995 world and European champion, Josef Philipoom of Belgium, in their Group P opener on September 11. World no.74, Philipoom took the top 3-cushion World Cup honour in Hurghada, Egypt five years ago.
Anh Chien then fought to beat Hungarian Ragai Henry, with a score of 30-26 to progress further into the competition.
Another Vietnamese player, Ly The Vinh (world no.53) also eased through the Group G preliminary round following his handy wins of 30-12 and 30-29 over three-time artistic billiards world champion, French Jean Reverchon (in 1990, 1992 and 1996), and Huyn Min Seo from the Republic of Korea, respectively, securing himself a main round berth.
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Ma Xuan Cuong, rated 47th and 50th in the world, also qualified for the main round after finishing victorious in their corresponding Group C and Group E qualification matches on the same day.
The remaining three Vietnamese cueists – Tran Quyet Chien (world no.18), Ngo Dinh Nai (world no.20) and Duong Anh Vu (world no.40) – are expected to grasp main round tickets after the last preliminaries taking place on September 12.
The Porto World Cup tournament is underway from September 8 to 14, gathering the participation of 148 official cueists and 28 substitutes. Vietnam has sent seven players to the event, targeting to win its first-ever carom 3-cushion championship title.
