The match was impressive with a perfect start by Quoc Hoang. He took a 5-0 lead with accurate additions and dances. Although Maciol took advantage of the opponent's mistake to shorten the score to 1-5, Quoc Hoang quickly regained control and won the remaining 4 games to close the match with a 9-1 victory.
This victory is considered one of the most significant results in the round, even more notable as Maciol is the champion of the 2024 10-a-side World Cup in Qatar.
Maciol is currently ranked 46th in the world, 20 places lower than Quoc Hoang. However, the Vietnamese player showed superiority in form and bravery. Even in difficult and tragic situations, he still handled it accurately and decisively. This is the second time Quoc Hoang has entered the knockout round of the World 9-Ball Pool Tournament, after reaching the quarter-finals in 2023.
Not long after Quoc Hoang's victory, player Luong Duc Thien continued to shine when he defeated Denis Grabe with a close score of 9-8. Before that, he also beat former champion Shane Van Boening with the same score in the first round. This is the second consecutive time Duc Thien has participated in the knockout round, after stopping at the 1/32 round last year.
Snooker Nguyen Anh Tuan is the third representative of Vietnam to continue, after convincingly defeating Henry Nguyen (Australia) 9-2 in round 2. Before that, Anh Tuan defeated Pijus Labutis with a score of 9-8 in a tense match.
The remaining player of Vietnam, Bui Truong An, will compete at 11:30 p.m. tonight (Vietnam time), against Ha Min-ug to compete for a ticket to the knockout round.
The World 9-Ball Pool Tournament is the largest tournament in the Pool system of the international billiards community, with a total prize of up to 1 million USD. This year, the tournament will continue to be held in the city of Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) from July 21 to 26, in a double format to select 64 players for the knockout round.
The knockout round will start from July 24, including the 1/32 and 1/16 rounds.
