HCM City victorious at national billiards, snooker tournament

Asian silver medalist Duong Anh Vu beat HCM City teammate Nguyen An Toan 40-35 in the men’s carom 3 final of the National Billiards and Snooker Championship in the southern province of Dong Nai on Thursday.

HCM City finished the tournament top of the leader board with four golds, three silvers and four bronze medals. Ha Noi finished in second place, followed by Da Nang in third.

The top Vietnamese cueist started the final slowly, allowing his opponent to go 15 points up. However, Vu, who made it through to the quarter-finals of the World Championship, showed his class by levelling the score 34-34 before going on to win the match.

It is Vu’s second gold medal of the competition, having earlier won the carom 1 event.

Viet Nam is pinning its hopes on Vu, the son of previous Asian Games silver medallist Duong Hoang Anh, winning a medal at the Asian Indoor Games in Macau this September and the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December.

In the women’s 9-ball final, Vu’s younger sister Duong Thuy Vy lost to Huynh Thi Ngoc Huyen from HCM City.

Vy, the defending 9-ball champion, appeared nervous and made a number of unforced errors that allowed her up-and-coming opponent to win the match 7-5.

Hanoians dominated the men’s 9-ball event. Le Quang Trung, Nguyen Thanh Nam and Do Hoang Quan all winning medals.

However, defending champion Luong Chi Dung, who scored an 8-7 win over the Philippines’ Ronato Alcano during his opening match at the World 9-Ball Pool Championships in Manila last year, was a disappointed, losing to teammate Trung in the quarter-finals.

In English Billiards, Nguyen Thanh Binh of Da Nang beat his brother Nguyen Thanh Long to take the gold.

(Source: VNS)