The Vietnamese threesome were among the only five unbeaten players during the three-day tournament in Seoul, Republic of Korea (RoK), alongside the hosts’ Choi Sung-won and Cho Myung-woo.
Team Asia, consisting of three Vietnamese and five RoK players, thrashed their European opponents 600-451, a 149-point difference, blasting their way to 19 wins in 24 matches with an overwhelming difference on average: 2,083 against 1,565.
Vietnam’s no. 1 player Tran Quyet Chien (world no. 7) outplayed Semih Sayginer (Turkey, world no. 9) and Dani Sanchez (Spain) on the first two days before finishing off world no. 1 Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) 25-7 in the shortest match on the final day (within only seven cues).
Notably, Dick Jaspers was also forced to concede a bitter defeat by another Vietnamese representative, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen.
The joy in the Asian box after their huge victory over Europe in the Continental Cup. (Photo: Kozoom)
World no. 29 Ngo Dinh Nai produced a shock on the final day, requiring only 17 cues to beat no. 2 Marco Zanetti (Italy), who is the defending champion at the Sharm El Shiekh World Cup 2019.
Team Europe only managed to blast a win on the last day of competition thanks to Dani Sanchez.
Team Asia’s Cho Myung-woo was the best over the three days with three wins over Sánchez, Sayginer and Bury, and 2,777 on average, followed by the three Vietnamese players, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (2,272 on average), Tran Quyet Chien (2,205) and Ngo Dinh Nai (2,083).
As the winners, each of the eight Asian players received US$15,000 in prize money.
The first Continental Cup took place in Bordeaux, France, last year with an overall 600-483 triumph for the European team.
