Billiards

Đặng Thành Kiên of Việt Nam in action during his match against David Alcaide of Spain. Photo of Vietcontent

HÀ NỘI — Vietnamese cueist Đặng Thành Kiên made a big bang at the first day of competition in the international Peri 9-ball Open in Hà Nội.

Kiên defeated Spaniard David Alcaide, the European defending champion, in the first round match which was considered the game of the night.

Both players contributed to an impressive game that could be only decided by a hill-hill - with the players neck and neck before the final frame.

Alcaide had a right to play first. He successfully potted the first ball but then went in-off to pass the advantage back to Kiên who made no mistake clearing the table to win 9-8..

The player, nicknamed Kiên Magic, the beat fellow countryman Đào Phúc An 9-4 in the second match. He will next play Jefrey Consigna Roda of the Philippines. The winner of the match will qualify for the second stage.

Roda earlier won two matches against Gerson Martinez Boza of Peru and Ko Ping Han of Chinese Taipei.

Alcaide dropped to the lower bracket in which he beat Singaporean Charlene Chai 8-6 to maintain his chance to go through the next stage.

In other matches, Nguyễn Anh Tuấn of the hosts also secured two wins over Khúc Trung Thành and Fu Che Wei of Chinese Taipei; Đỗ Thế Kiên won one and lost one and will have to wait for his chance in the lower bracket; wildcard holder Lương Đình Phúc also had one win and one loss and needed a win in his last match to advance to the next round.

The Peri 9-ball Open is the first international elite tournament organised in Việt Nam.

Supporters will have opportunities to watch world stars like Shane van Boening, Skyler Woodward, Max Lechner, Fedor Gorst and Anthony Raga competing in the next sessions.

The US$104,000 event is brought to Việt Nam by Vietcontent in co-operation with Peri Vietnam and Matchroom.

The Peri 9-Ball Open is one of two competitions, held in Hà Nội this month, in which competitors will earn points for their World 9-Ball Tour ranking. The final is scheduled on October 9.

The second event, the Hanoi Open Pool Championship, will be held on October 10-15 at the Mỹ Đình Indoor Athletics Palace. - VNS