ANKARA - The most famous winners list in the world of billiards has been enriched this Sunday by a completely new name. Phuong Vinh Bao (28), until recently a total unknown billiard player from Vietnam, grabbed the world title three cushion in a Turkish billiard arena in a field with all the stars. He is the successor to Tayfun Tasdemir and, in an even more distant past, illustrious billiard players like Raymond Ceulemans, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dick Jaspers and Dani Sánchez. The tiny Vietnamese economist is single and is only a professional billiard player for two years. In the Turkish capital, he towered over the major players of today's three-cushion billiards. And instead of cheering and jumping, Bao celebrated the world success quietly waving to the audience, making a heart with his fingers and smiling demurely in the cameras.
The Vietnamese national anthem, never heard before at the end of a World championship in billiards, sounded awkward and even unlikely. The champion and number two (Quyet Chien Tran, also from Vietnam) were softly singing along, but Phuong Vinh Bao's face radiated more disbelief than joy and pride in those first minutes after his victory. The young billiard player, who studied economics in Australia and speaks fluent English, needed some time to realize what he had done. The miraculous victory did pass through thousands of billiard fans almost like a world wonder. In the 75-year history of the World three cushion championship, never before had such a new rising star climbed the highest podium.
Phuong Vinh Bao, who earned 20,000 euros with his title (a huge amount in his country) heard UMB president Farouk Barki say in his speech: ’’We have great news for the players. From next year, the prize money at the World championship will go up, the champion will earn 40,000 euros.’’ So the premium will be doubled, how unfortunate it that for the humble champion that it was not announced before the 2023 stage.
The champion's first reaction: "I can't believe it that I am the champion of the world. That makes me so happy, also for my father, who was here as my fan, and for my mother at home. I can only say that I stayed myself over the whole tournament, which is the main reason I was able to get the title. We both chased our big goal, Quyet Chien Tran and I. I didn't cheer exuberantly after I won the title because Tran and I are teammates and friends when we play internationally. We were both very happy when we made it to the final. Whoever won, we would have the same feelings. It's a wonderful Vietnamese success for both of us. I never dreamed of being able to achieve this.''
Phuong Vinh Bao got his bachelor's degree in 'External Economics' in Australia and is 'Master of applied economics and econometrics.' He is the son of Bao Thanh Phuong, has a younger sister and lives a short distance from Ho Chi Minh in Binh Duong City.
The world title was contested in a battle between two Vietnamese, of whom Quyet Chien Tran was the most purified with two World Cups wins to his name and Bao, still in the vague shadow of all the great champions. In that brotherly battle for gold, Bao started with 5 and 2 and Tran could only score once in his first four innings. Following that start, the final levelled off a bit, but Bao kept the upper hand with 20-15 in 12 innings. Tran's small revival came just before the break, when he took a 1-point lead for the first time, but Bao immediately hit back with 8, 3 and 2 for a 34-22 lead. That margin remained on the score board in the final stages. It went to another 35-27, 40-30, 47-33 (in 32) and finally Bao finished with his last three caroms: 50-34 in 33.
It was fascinating during that final to hear Torbjörn Blomdahl speak about the qualities of the new champion. The Swede noted that this Vietnamese really makes all the positions makeable, he also scores from very difficult positions and often hits the third ball in full swing, so without lucky hits. ’’It seems like the master and the pupil are facing each other,'' Blomdahl said at the start of the match, but as the end approached, the immense admiration for the new star in the firmament was growing
The moment of glory came in sight for Bao when he was almost led to the slaughter in the quarter-finals by American Pedro Piedrabuena. But the stoic and always calculating Piedrabuena made a rarely seen blunder: he played his match ball far too softly and therefore missed the carom that would bring him to the final match and knock Bao out.
The Vietnamese - unlike after he won the title - ran through the arena in delirious joy, sharing his victory with the cameras and everyone around. The next match, in the semi-finals on Sunday, was another match of the giant against the dwarf in sporting perception. In the field of three Asians and reigning champion Tasdemir, Myung Woo Cho was one of the top favorites. Bao entered the match uninhibited, first seeing his opponent run away to 12-6 in 5, but then taking a free fall with many times 1 or 0. Bao scored a 5, a 7 and a 9 and had the first gap at 29-15. The match seemed to be decided at 44-31 and after four more zeros from Cho, but Bao needed 9 innings for his last six points. Cho was able to conjure one more blast from his cue with a run of 10 (48-44 for Bao), but the final was for the Vietnamese, who reached the final.
At the other table, another thriller rolled out. Tayfun Tasdemir was passionately supported by the Turkish crowd, Quyet Chien Tran felt much less support, but had the best final shot in the end. The other Vietnamese for the final (Tran) had a much better start than Tasdemir with 17-3 in 4 and 21-4 in 5, Tasdemir produced too many zeros and Tran slowly walked out to a winning score, despite the difficult final innings: 47-35, 48-41, 49-44 and 50-47 in 32.
The averages at this World championship were generally slightly lower than in other world events. The winner finished with 1.594, the highest in general average was Marco Zanetti with 1.685, the best match at the World championship came up from Jérémy Bury with 3.076, the highest run came from Eddy Merckx with 14.
Three Asians were on the podium together with Tayfun Tasdemir, in the top 10 finished five Asians and two Americans, Pedro Piedrabuena and Hugo Patino. Dick Jaspers, the world number one until this World championship, finished the tournament just outside the top 10 with 11th place.
Marco Zanetti becomes the new world number 1 with 373 ranking points. It is the first time in his career that Zanetti (61) has taken the top spot in the world rankings. The Italian, who was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Quyet Chien Tran with 50-34 in 25, is followed in the rankings by Myung Woo Cho, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dick Jaspers and Quyet Chien Tran.
- Phuong Vinh Bao 14-1.594-10
- Quyet Chien Tran 12-1.635-11
- Myung Woo Cho 1.561-10
- Tayfun Tasdemir 8-1.556-9
- Marco Zanetti 8 1.685-12
- Eddy Merckx 8-1.598-14
- Pedro Piedrabuena 6-1.381-9
- Hugo Patino 6-1.048-7
- Myeong Jong Cha 5-1.486-13
- Haeng Jik Kim 4-1.648-10
- Dick Jaspers 4-1.637-9
- Javier Vera 4-1.560-13
- Gwendal Maréchal 4-1.535-11
- Luis Martinez 4-1.531-13
- Roland Forthomme 4-1.396-10
- Berkay Karakurt 4-1.950-8
Phuong Vinh Bao, the new world champion in three cushion after a sensational performance
The world stage with Bao, Tran, Cho en TasdemirThe new world ranking:
- Marco Zanetti 373
- Myung Woo Cho 358
- Torbjörn Blomdahl 354
- Dick Jaspers 348
- Quyet Chien Tran 331
- Sameh Sidhom 328
- Eddy Merckx 291
- Haeng Jik Kim 268
- Tayfun Tasdemir 259
- Phuong Vinh Bao 244
- Jérémy Bury 222
- Jun Tae Kim 210
- Jung Han Heo 188
- Martin Horn 172
- Nikos Polychronopoulos 168
- Pedro Piedrabuena 157
- Myeong Jong Cha 148
- Berkay Karakurt 137
- Mashhour Abu Tayeh 114
- Roland Forthomme 113