Pool player Duong Quoc Hoang. Photo: Matchroom Pool

Pool player Duong Quoc Hoang. Photo: Matchroom Pool

The Battle of the Bull is an annual 9-ball pool tournament held in Roanoke, Virginia. This year's tournament, the third, brought together 128 of the world's top players from 14/8 to 17/8, competing for a $100,000 prize pool. Players competed in a double-elimination format to determine the 32 who would advance to the single-elimination stage.

In the double-elimination rounds, Quoc Hoang defeated Josh Roberts 9-5, Albert Januarta 9-7, and Antonis Kakaris 9-7.

In the single-elimination stage, the Vietnamese champion defeated Lee Van Corteza 9-0 and then Fedor Gorst 9-6 in the round of 16 on the morning of 17/8, Hanoi time.

Gorst, a 25-year-old Russian-American, is the world's number one pool player, having earned over $533,000 in prize money in the past 12 months. He is a two-time world champion, winning in 2019 and 2024. Quoc Hoang is currently ranked 28th in the world with over $58,000 in earnings.

In the quarterfinals, Quoc Hoang went on to defeat Alex Kazakis 9-7 to reach the semifinals. He then lost to the world's fourth-ranked player, Johann Chua, 5-11. Chua advanced to the final to face Shane Van Boening.

Vietnam had two other representatives in the single-elimination stage: Luong Duc Thien and Pham Phuong Nam. Duc Thien defeated Mieszko Fortuni 9-6 and then Aloysius Yapp 9-4 in the round of 16. However, he lost to Shane Van Boening 8-9 in the quarterfinals.

Phuong Nam lost in the round of 32 to Felix Vogel, earning $800. Duc Thien received $3,500, while Quoc Hoang took home $6,900.

Xuan Binh