* Chien sets new Vietnamese milestone in world billiards rankings
* Vietnamese cueist wins US$21,000 as runner-up at Survival 3C Masters
A total of 149 players from around the world are gathering in Seoul from November 12 to 18 for the fifth stage of the UMB’s 2018 World Cup series. As one of the only two World Cup tournaments held in Asia (alongside the Ho Chi Minh City World Cup), the week-long event attracts a large number of Vietnamese participants, with 36 competitors in both the qualifying round and the main draw.
Named among the seeds together with 15 other leading world players, world no. 7 Tran Quyet Chien and world no. 16 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, both from Vietnam, will start their campaign in the Round of 32. Meanwhile, more than 100 remaining participants have to experience a fierce qualification tournament from November 12 to 15 to find out the remaining 15 qualifiers for the top-32 knockout stage.
The last qualifying round, scheduled on November 15, features three Vietnamese participants, including world no. 17 Ngo Dinh Nai, world no. 22 Ma Minh Cam and world no. 35 Duong Anh Vu, in addition to 12 other competitors.
The Seoul World Cup is seen as an ideal occasion for Tran Quyet Chien to create an additional historic milestone for Vietnamese billiards. With relatively high bonus points – 80 points for the champion, 54 for the runner-up, 38 for the semifinalists and 26 for the quarterfinalists – the top Vietnamese cueist will climb up the world rankings if he reaps success in Seoul.
Chien is currently the no. 7 player in the world with 254 points, behind Cho Jae-Ho (world no. 6, 262 points), Eddy Merckx (world no. 5, 268), Marco Zanetti (world no. 4, 268), Semih Sayginer (world no. 3, 276), Dick Jaspers (world no. 2, 398) and Frederic Caudron (world no. 1, 448).
As Chien is now only eight points behind sixth-ranked Cho Jae-Ho, he has a high possibility of surpassing the RoK player to become the no. 1 cueist in Asia. Even more sweetly, the Vietnamese star will have the chance to conquer the world no. 3 position, which is currently held by Semih Sayginer with just a 22-point advantage, if he delivers an exceptional performance during the tournament.
There is a bright outlook for Chien to produce a miracle in Seoul, inspired by his perfect warm-up with a runner-up finish at the recent Survival 3C Masters Guri 2018, which has lifted him to seventh position in the world rankings, the highest UMB rating to be attained by a Vietnamese player in history. It is strongly expected by the home fans that the 36-year-old star will maintain his stable form into the Seoul World Cup, in order to continue creating a new sparkling milestone for Vietnam on the world billiards map.
