Billiards

Vietnamese top pool player Dương Quốc Hoàng is excited the Asian Open Pool Championship will take place in Việt Nam in October. Photo of WPC

HÀ NỘI — The largest ever international pool competition, the Asian Open Pool Championship, will take place in Việt Nam in October, said organisers Matchroom Pool on July 1.

The tournament, brought to Việt Nam by Vietcontent, will be held on October 10-15 at the Indoor Athletics Complex in Hà Nội.

It will see the participation of 256 athletes including 128 World Nineball Tour high-ranking competitors such as Joshua Filler, Shane Van Boening, Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, Ko Pin Yi, and Fedor Gorst.

A total of US$200,000 is to offered as prize money with the winner walking away with $30,000.

“It’s brilliant that such an amazing and beautiful tournament will take place in Việt Nam. The Vietnamese fans are very welcoming to everyone and I am sure all our people will be looking forward to this event," said national top 9-ball player Dương Quốc Hoàng.

"I am so excited the World Nineball Tour is coming to Hà Nội. I’m excited for this opportunity and want to thank Vietcontent and Matchroom and everyone else who has made this possible."

It is the first time a world elite event has been held in this country which has seen a booming development of billiards that attracted the attentions of Matchroom Pool.

In May, Matchroom Multi Sport Managing Director Emily Frazer posted photos of Việt Nam billiards on her Facebook, which created information about the leading nine-ball tournament system to visit Việt Nam soon.

In a clip on Matchroom Pool's fanpage, Frazer officially confirmed Hà Nội as the next destination of the tournament.

“The World Nineball Tour is expanding and we’re going to the beautiful Hà Nội City in Việt Nam," she said.

"We’re really excited. The final two days will be live on Sky Sports. Sky Sports have been instrumental to our push of Nineball following the schedule and putting these events on back to back so they’ve been really pushing Nineball for us with the calendar. We have a great team on the ground with Vietcontent and the Hà Nội Department of Culture and Sport.”

In addition to the tournament for the elites, the Vietnam Junior Open will be held for the under-17 athletes vying for a purse of $10,000 from October 13-14.

It is part of Matchroom’s commitment to growing the grassroots of the game.

“The Vietnam Junior Open will take place during the Asian Open. It’s a great opportunity for Juniors to come onto the main stage and get experience in front of the cameras," Fraser said.

Vietcontent General Director Trần Thùy Chi said: “Vietcontent is excited to be the host partner of this event, a very meaningful event for billiards fans in Việt Nam.

"Việt Nam currently is one of the countries with the largest number of pool players in Asia and the world. Hà Nội has been considered as a strong city of Nineball pool for many years," said Chi, adding that the date of the Asian Open Championship in October coincides with the Independence Day of Hà Nội so it is the best opportunity to bring Hà Nội to the world and bring the world to the city. VNS