Despite being the lowest rated among the five Vietnamese representatives in the last 32, Trung Hau (world no. 44) demonstrated brilliant form, taking out world no. 7 Cho Jae-ho (Republic of Korea) and world no. 11 Bury Jeremy (France) to finish on top of Group G and progress into the knockout stage.
Playing Tayfun, who are 39 places higher in the UMB rankings, Trung Hau stunned everyone by defeating the Turkish opponent 40-31 after 17 turns, reaching an efficiency rate of 2.352, the third highest among the 16 competitors.
Next up for Trung Hau will be world no. 17 Kim Haeng-jik (Republic of Korea). By making the quarterfinals, Trung Hau has already pocketed EUR3,500 and 26 bonus points.
Do Nguyen Trung Hau is expected to build on with his brilliant form in the Porto World Cup quarterfinals.
In contrast to Trung Hau’s impressive display, the 2019 Porto World Cup is a forgettable tournament for Vietnam’s no. 1 cueist, Tran Quyet Chien, as the world no. 8 suffered three consecutive losses in Group C and failed to get through to the last 16.
A similar script also followed for world no. 23 Ma Minh Cam, who finished rock bottom in Group H. The other two Vietnamese players, Ngo Dinh Nai (world no. 24) and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (world no. 18), regretfully crashed out in the last 32, as both ranked third in their groups due to poorer auxiliaries compared to the second-placed performers.
At the 2019 Porto World Cup, the competitors will have to defend their results achieved at the 2018 Blankenberge World Cup.
The overall champion will receive EUR16,000 in prize money and 80 UMB rating points, while a stake of EUR10,000 and 54 rating points will be awarded to the runner-up, in addition to EUR6,000 and 38 points for the two third-placed players, EUR3,500 and 26 points for quarterfinalists, EUR2,500 and 16 points for the last-16 players, and EUR1,500 and 8 rating points for the last-32 competitors.
