VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese cueist Tran Quyet Chien climbed to 12th position in the latest UMB World 3-Cushion Ranking as announced on October 18, the best world rating ever secured by a Vietnamese billiards player.

Vietnamese cueist Tran Quyet Chien

The impressive leap marked a big step forward in Chien’s billiards career.

Chien’s previous jump was made nearly two months ago as he leapt up three notches to reach the 17th place in the world.

Leading up to this result, Chien participated in dozens of international 3-cushion carom tournaments since July 2012. The Ca Mau-born cueist grabbed a bronze at the 2012 Asian Championships as well as advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2013 World Cup in Istanbul and Hurghada, 2014 World Cup in Porto and the 2015 Asian Championships.

Most recently, Chien was the only Vietnamese representative to make the quarterfinals of the Istanbul 3-Cushion World Cup. Despite having to play from the preliminary round, Chien demonstrated stunning form beating Vietnamese elder Ma Xuan Cuong in round 16.

Chien, however, lost the quarterfinal clash 34-40 to Turkey’s Murat Naci Coklu, who then claimed the overall title following a final 40-26 victory against Belgium’s Roland Forthomme.

As quarterfinalist in Istanbul, Chien won an additional 21 points to settle for the world’s no. 12 position with 152 points, which will surely ensure him a berth in the finals of the next 3-Cushion World Cup stage.

Chien’s compatriots, Duong Anh Vu and Ma Xuan Cuong also showed stable form standing at 28th and 29th place with 94 and 92 points respectively.

Another Vietnamese player, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, dropped ten places from 25th to 35th position after failing to defend his bronze medal won at last year’s Istanbul World Cup.

Nhan Dan