The player who just won the World Cup billiards championship in Ho Chi Minh City round, Tran Duc Minh, said that there was a time when he was mentally prepared for failure, when facing Kim Jun Tae (Korea) in the final match.
In the final match of the World Cup billiards carom 3-band round in Ho Chi Minh City, which took place last night (May 26), Tran Duc Minh defeated Kim Jun Tae 50-46 after 23 rounds. However, at one point KimJun Tae led Tran Duc Minh 46-45.
Tran Duc Minh won in the breathtaking final (Photo: Hai Long).
During this period, the Korean player went from being ahead 44-24 by Tran Duc Minh to leading 46-45. Among them, there was one turn in which Kim Jun Tae scored 12 points, making Tran Duc Minh in particular and the host audience in general wait with bated breath.
After being crowned World Cup champion, Tran Duc Minh said he was also mentally prepared to be defeated by his opponent in the end.
Tran Duc Minh said: “When Kim Jun Tae scored a very long series of points, I could only sit still and wait. I even accepted the possibility of losing if my opponent scored enough points. On the contrary, if Kim Jun Tae doesn’t have enough points, I will have a chance and will resolve the match.”
Tran Duc Minh won the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup for the first time (Photo: Hai Long).
“I have more motivation thanks to the enthusiastic support of the home audience. This support helps me be more determined to win the final match,” Tran Duc Minh added.
This is the first time Tran Duc Minh won the 3-cushion carom billiards World Cup title. Although he is a familiar player in the domestic billiards industry, Tran Duc Minh is still a relatively unknown name internationally, because he rarely appears in major tournaments such as the World Cup or World Championship.
Competitors outside Vietnam have very little information about Tran Duc Minh. However, the victory from the 1/8 round to the final, against strong opponents, showed that Tran Duc Minh’s level was very high.
In particular, in the 1/8 round, Tran Duc Minh defeated world number 2 Tran Quyet Chien, who was the biggest hope of Vietnamese billiards before the World Cup round in Ho Chi Minh City in 2024 took place. Tran Quyet Chien has 3 World Cup titles and is also the current World Champion.