Vietnam's no. 1 cueist Tran Quyet Chien takes the Asian three-cushion carom trophy.

Quyet Chien started the match strongly and led the Republic of Korea (RoK) opponent 7-3 after the first two laps.

However, Cho Myung-woo promptly proved his level in the third lap scoring a 13-point circuit to lead 16-11 and created a four-point advantage (20-16) before the first half ended.

In the second half, the RoK prodigy scored an 18-point circuit to lead 38-22. As it seemed to be heading for an overall victory for Cho Myung-woo, Quyet Chien made a strong comeback and produced the most classic turnaround in the history of the Asian pool championship.

The Vietnamese master scored a nine-point series to put pressure on the RoK competitor, which forced Cho to make mistakes and even go five laps without scoring a single point.

Quyet Chien utilised the opportunity to push forward to equalise the score at 38-38 before completing his dramatic resurgence with a 40-38 triumph after 21 cues, thus claiming the Asian three-cushion carom trophy in a convincing fashion.

As the overall champion, Quyet Chien pocketed US$4,000 in prize money and 80 bonus points in the world rankings, which will possibly lift him to the world’s top three in the upcoming UMB table.

Earlier, Chien’s compatriot Ma Minh Cam took the one-cushion carom title after defeating his RoK opponent, Seo Hyun-min, in the final on the evening of April 23.

Nhan Dan