PHAN THIET CITY - Vietnamese coming-man Phuong Vinh Bao, one of the most sensational world three-cushion champions in history, will be waved off in front of his own crowd in the 76th World championship this week. For the first time in history, the World Three-cushion Championship is pitching its tents in Vietnam, the new billiard nation with young, great champions for the future and an army of players across the country. Phuong Vinh Bao is one of them, he was enjoying his world title for one year. This week (Wednesday 25 to Sunday 29 September), Jaspers, Tran, Cho, Zanetti, Merckx, Blomdahl, Tasdemir and other famous players will make a bid for the most coveted title in three-cushion.
The 76th world championship will be organised in Binh Thuan province in Phan Thiet City, four hours by bus from Ho Chi Minh. That will be the perfect ambience for Bao and for Quyet Chien Tran, number 2 on the world rankings. According to tradition, 48 players have been invited, at the top of the rankings the defending champion Bao and further the 17 best-placed players in the world rankings: Dick Jaspers (Neth), Quyet Chien Tran (Viet), Jun-tae Kim (Kor), Myung-woo Cho (Kor), Martin Horn (Ger), Eddy Merckx (Bel), Sameh Sidhom (Eg), Marco Zanetti (It), Torbjörn Blomdahl (Swe), Jung-han Heo (Kor), Haeng-jik Kim (Kor), Tayfun Tasdemir (Tur), Tolgahan Kiraz (Tur), Jérémy Bury (Fr), Nikos Polychronopoulos (Gr) and Berkay Karakurt (Tur).
There are also the selections by confederation, 13 players from the CEB (Europe), one from each country: David Pennör (Swe), Ruben Legazpi (Sp), Jeffrey Jorissen (Neth), Peter Ceulemans (Bel), Brian Knudsen (Den), Ronny Lindemann (Ger), Gerhard Kostistansky (Aus), Turgay Orak (Tur), Mikael Devogelaere (Fr), Rui Costa (Por), Kostas Kokkoris (Gr), Radek Novak (Cz) and Alessio d'Agata (It).
From the CPB (America) will come eight players: William Villanueva (Ven), Daniel Morales (Col), Javier Vera (Mex), Hugo Patino (USA), Ramon Rodriguez (Per), Miguel Labrador (Ven), Raymon Groot (USA) and Jose Juan Garcia (Col). Five players from the ACBC (Asia), with Chang-hoon Seo (Kor), Ryuuji Umeda (Jap), Takao Miyashita (Jap), Van Tai Nguyen (Vie) and Thanh Luc Tran (Viet). Finally, 3 players from the AMECC (Africa and Middle East): Mohamed Abdin (Eg), Fadi Abousaleh (Lib) and Naser Awwad (Jor), plus two wildcards from the organization, Thanh Tien Le (Viet) and Duc Minh Tran (Viet).
Among the major absentees are Frédéric Caudron (Belgium), but that is only a matter of time, the rising Dutch top player Glenn Hofman, Dane Dion Nelin and American Pedro Piedrabuena. In the rankings, Bao defends the maximum 120 points, Tran 81, Tasdemir and Myung Woo Cho 57 points from the last World championship in 2023.
Sixteen groups of three players start in 40-point matches for the qualifiers over two days with six sessions each day. Vietnam is 5 hours ahead of Western Europe, so 5 hours must be subtracted from the published UMB schedule. Depending on the day, games will be played from 5am or 6am to around 5pm in Dutch, Belgian, German, French time and so on.
Programme
The best two in each group advance to the finals (50 points), starting with the round of 32 played on Friday. This is followed by the further knockout with 16. The quarter-finals are on Saturday and then the semi-finals and final on Sunday.
The groups for the start are:
Group A: Phuong Vinh Bao, Naser Awwad, Takao Miyashita
B: Dick Jaspers, Turgay Orak, Hong Chiem Thai
C: Quyet Chien Tran, Daniel Morales, Kostas Kokkoris
D: Jun Tae Kim, Ryuuji Umeda, David Pennör
E: Myung Woo Cho, Javier Vera, Radek Novak
F: Martin Horn, Duc Minh Tran, Ronny Lindemann
G: Eddy Merckx, Gerhard Kostistansky, Jose Juan Garcia
H: Sameh Sidhom, Jeffrey Jorissen, Mikael Devogelaere
I: Marco Zanetti, Chang Hoon Seo, Raymon Groot
J: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Mohamed Abdin, Brian Knudsen
K: Jung Han Heo, Manuel Rui Costa, William Villanueva
L: Haeng Jik Kim, Hugo Patino, Miguel Labrador
M: Tayfun Tasdemir, Peter Ceulemans, Ramon Rodriguez
N: Tolgahan Kiraz, Thanh Luc Tran, Thanh Tien Le
O: Jérémy Bury, Ruben Legazpi, Alessio D'Agata
P: Nikos Polychronopoulos, Berkay Karakurt, Van Tai Nguyen.
The winner receives 40,000 euros, number 2 will earn 20,000, number 3 will be rewarded with 12,000 euros, 6,000 for 5/8, 3,000 for 9/16, 2,000 for 17/32 and 1,500 for numbers 33-48.
All matches will be broadcast live on AfreecaTV's YouTube.