Following Duong Quoc Hoang and Luong Duc Thien's victories on the first day, Nguyen Anh Tuan, Bui Truong An, and Pham Phuong Nam competed on Tuesday evening, 22/7.

Tuan caused an upset by defeating 15th seed Pijus Labutis 9-8 to advance to the second round of the winners' bracket. At the same tournament last year, he lost both of his matches against Konrad Juszczyszyn and Hussein Mustafa.

Pham Phuong Nam takes a shot during his loss to Aloysius Yapp in the first round of the World Pool Championship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 22/7/2025. Photo: Matchroom

Pham Phuong Nam takes a shot during his loss to Aloysius Yapp in the first round of the World Pool Championship in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 22/7/2025. Photo: Matchroom

At the same time, Truong An lost 8-9 to Wiktor Zielinski in his opening match. However, in the losers' bracket, he defeated Lu Hui Chan 9-4. This was the fourth victory for Vietnamese players at this year's tournament. Last year, Vietnamese players only won two matches in total, one by Quoc Hoang and one by Phuong Nam.

Despite his win last year, Phuong Nam was the first Vietnamese player eliminated from this year's tournament. He lost 5-9 to Aloysius Yapp in his first match and then 6-9 to Alexis Ferrer in the losers' bracket. According to the tournament rules, any player who loses two matches is eliminated.

The second round matches of both the winners' and losers' brackets will take place today. Quoc Hoang will face Daniel Maciol in the first match at 5 PM. At the same time, Duc Thien will play against Denis Grabe. At 6:30 PM, Anh Tuan will compete against Australian player Henry Nguyen. Truong An's opponent in the losers' bracket has not yet been determined.

The World Pool Championship is the biggest tournament in 9-ball pool, with a prize fund of 1 million USD and 128 top players. This year's tournament is being held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from 21/7 to 26/7, using a double-elimination format to select 64 players for the knockout stage.

Phuong Nam has left the tournament with 1,000 USD in prize money. The four remaining Vietnamese players are guaranteed to receive at least 2,000 USD. If they win one more match, they will advance to the knockout stage. The champion will receive 250,000 USD.

Xuan Binh