Vietnam's top pool player beats former world champion three times at Reyes Cup

Hoang continued his impressive performance on the penultimate day of the Reyes Cup 2024, helping Team Asia extend their lead over Team Europe to 9-3. He only played in team match against world number three Francisco Sanchez Ruiz, a familiar opponent from the previous day that he defeated twice.

The 37-year-old player opened the match with a tactical break, hiding the cue ball behind the number 2 ball. However, this unintentionally allowed Sanchez to pocket it. Sanchez ran for the number 3 ball but left it exposed, giving Hoang the opportunity to finish the game and put Asia 2-0 up.

Sanchez, 33, a former world number one and current world number three, boasts an impressive record, having won the 8-ball world championship in 2022, the 9-ball title in 2023 and the European championship in 2024. Despite his accolades, Sanchez has struggled against Hoang, losing to him twice on Wednesday and again on Thursday night.

Hoang, 38th in the world and the lowest-ranked player in the 2024 Reyes Cup, has been a standout performer for Asia. He has won two matches and three consecutive games across singles, doubles and team events. His only defeat came in the tournament's opening team match.

In the Thursday team match, Asia took a commanding 4-0 lead, highlighted by a stunning performance from Mickey Krause, who pocketed eight balls in a row. However, Krause misplayed the 9-ball, allowing Carlo Biado to step in and secure the win. Asia ultimately won the match 5-1 and increased their overall lead to 8-2.

Europe managed to get a point back when Jayson Shaw and Sanchez defeated Johann Chua and Ko Pin-yi, but Asia quickly restored their six-point lead after Aloysius Yapp and Biado triumphed 5-3 over Shaw and Eklent Kaci.

With a score of 9-3 after the penultimate day, Asia is just two wins away from claiming the championship. The doubles match between Hoang and Ko against Sanchez and Krause was postponed until Friday to avoid an early closure of the tournament. Instead, an exhibition match was held between pool legends Francisco Bustamante and Jeremy Jones.

Asia's dominance was further highlighted by David Alcaide's lack of playing time on the day. He was slated to face Ko in a team match, but Ko broke and cleared the table, leaving Alcaide without a chance to compete.

The 2024 Reyes Cup, named after Philippine pool legend Efren Reyes, is a Europe vs Asia tournament held from Oct. 15 to 18, with each team of five players competing in 20 matches, each consisting of a maximum of nine games.

The first team to win five games earn one point, and the first team to reach 11 points will be crowned champion.