The Ho Chi Minh City 2024 9-Ball Pool Championship, set from September 25 to 29, is being touted as the largest international billiards event ever held in Vietnam.

Sanctioned by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) and the Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports (ACBS), the tournament is organized in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports and the Ho Chi Minh City Billiards & Snooker Federation.

Before the main event, 128 players will compete in the qualifying rounds from September 20 to 23 to determine the top 32 players who will advance to the final competition taking place at Ho Xuan Huong Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City.

The total prize pool for the Ho Chi Minh City 2024 9-Ball Pool Championship amounts to approximately 2.8 billion VND, with the champion poised to win 900 million VND.

Renowned national and international players have registered for the event. Vietnamese contenders include Pham Phuong Nam, Luong Duc Thien, Ta Van Linh, Nguyen Phuc Long, and Vu Quang Huy.

They will face global billiards icons such as Alexander Kazakis from Greece, the world number two and winner of prominent tournaments including the European Pool Championship 2015, Kremlin Cup 2016, Euro Tour Pongau Open 2018, World Pool Masters 2021, and Pro-Billiard Series Wisconsin Open 2022.

Also competing are top-ranked players like Carlo Biado from the Philippines (world number four), Denis Grabe from Estonia (world number three), Wu Kun Lin from Taiwan (world number eight), Bader Alawadhi from Kuwait (world number nine), Mario He from Austria (world number 17), and Alex Pagulayan from the Philippines (world number 18).

Duy Nguyen