Quyet Chien began his World Games campaign with a 40-40 draw against French representative Jeremy Bury on the morning of 11/8. In the afternoon, the top Vietnamese cueist defeated Luis Martinez 40-38. This secured him second place in the group, advancing to the quarterfinals alongside Bury. Colombia's representative, Martinez, was eliminated.

The 6 other cueists who advanced to the quarterfinals are Martin Horn, Cho Myung-woo, Heo Jung-han, Pedro Piedrabuena, Sameh Sidhom, and Tayfun Tasdemir. With the exception of American representative Piedrabuena, all the remaining quarterfinalists are ranked within the world's top 14.

Tran Quyet Chien at the 2025 World Games in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China on 11/8/2025. _Photo: World Games_

Quyet Chien carries Vietnam's medal hopes at the 2025 World Games. The 3-cushion carom billiards event features 12 cueists divided into 4 groups of 3. Each group plays a round-robin format, with the top 2 players from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. The biggest upset in the group stage was world number 1 Dick Jaspers' elimination after losing both matches against Heo and Piedrabuena.

Vietnam has another representative in billiards, female cueist Phung Kien Tuong, also competing in 3-cushion carom. In the group stage, she defeated Claudia Lalinde but lost to Charlotte Sorensen and Jackeline Perez. Despite these results, she still advanced to the semifinals. A win in the semifinals guarantees her a place in the final and a medal. A loss means she'll compete in a bronze medal match.

Held every 4 years, one year after the Olympics, the World Games were first organized in 1981. The event is organized by the International World Games Association (IWGA) under the patronage of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Vietnam has historically won 5 gold medals and one silver medal at the Games, placing 47th overall.

This year's Games are taking place from 7/8 to 17/8 in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, China. Approximately 4,000 athletes are competing in 34 sports and 256 events. The competitions are divided into 6 main categories: dance & artistic sports, ball sports, martial arts, precision sports, strength sports, and trend sports. Most of the sports at the World Games, with the exception of archery, are not featured in the Olympics.

Vietnam is participating in this year's Games with 26 athletes competing in 7 disciplines: aerobic gymnastics, beach handball, billiards, boules, kickboxing, muay Thai, and wushu. After 5 days of competition, 56 delegations have won at least one medal, but Vietnam has not yet secured a medal.

Xuan Binh