Việt Nam’s top three‑cushion carom player Trần Quyết Chiến. — Photo danviet.vn

Billiards

HÀ NỘI — Việt Nam’s leading cushion carom players are cueing up for a decisive showdown, as Trần Quyết Chiến and Trần Thanh Lực prepare to strike in the final round of the Bogota 2026 3-Cushion Carom Billiards World Cup in Colombia on April 10.

Chiến and Lực received direct entry into the final round, with Chiến the only Vietnamese player seeded in the top group, ranking among the UMB’s top eight.

The top-seeded group also includes South Korean prodigy Cho Myung-woo and established names such as Dick Jaspers of the Netherlands, Eddy Merckx of Belgium, Marco Zanetti of Italy, Tayfun Tasdemir of Turkey, Sameh Sidhom of Egypt and Frederic Caudron.

In the final round, 32 players are divided into eight groups of four and compete in a round-robin format to determine points and rankings. The top two from each group advance to the round of 16, which is played as a knockout. Chiến and Lực have been drawn together in Group F, guaranteeing a high-profile Vietnamese derby.

For Vietnamese three-cushion fans, Bogota has proved a fertile ground for championship ambitions. At the past two World Cup stages in the city, Vietnamese players have dominated: Chiến won convincingly in 2024 by defeating Sameh Sidhom, and a year later, Lực secured his first World Cup title in Colombia by beating veteran Tayfun Tasdemir.

Their success not only highlights individual talent but also demonstrates the Vietnamese players’ ability to adapt to conditions in South America and an apparent affinity for Bogota. Entering the 2026 tournament as recent champions, Chiến and Lực are natural focal points.

Chiến, a four-time World Cup winner, remains Việt Nam’s leading hope. He arrives in Bogota in strong form after a successful late-2025 and early-2026 season that included victory at the Blois Three-Cushion Challenge 2025 in France and an outstanding performance at the world team championship alongside Nguyễn Trần Thanh Tự, where he went unbeaten.

Lực returns to Bogota as the defending World Cup champion. With a World Cup title and a runner-up finish at the 2024 World Championship, he has shown he is no longer an emerging name but one of the world’s leading players. Direct entry to the finals alongside senior teammate Chiến reflects both hisranking status and a psychological advantage. For Lực, Bogota is where he reached the pinnacle of his career.

Lực said that confidence will be a powerful weapon for him to cope with the pressure of defending the championship against strong opponents from Europe and South Korea. — VNS