Vietnamese cueist finishes 2nd in thrilling world billiards tournament final

Before the final began he had been leading the table with 46 points, followed by South Korean Choi Sung Won with 34 points, Swede Torbjorn Blomdahl and Turk Semih Sayginer, both with 27.

In the final, each cueist was to get 10 turns with the one scoring the highest overall winning the title.

Choi, who won the tournament in 2014, started in a blaze scoring 21 points in just two turns to surge to the top with 55. Nai started poorly, scoring only seven in four chances.

In the sixth turn, Nai scored nine points to narrow the gap with Choi to three.

The last few shots were tense with the lead going back and forth.

Unfortunately, in the last two rounds, though Choi scored only a single point, Nai could not capitalize and go past him.

When the dust settled, Choi had won with 75 points to Nai’s 73. Sayginer (69), who scored 20 points in his eighth turn, the highest in the tournament, and Blomdahl (59) followed.

The tournament was played online from October 26 to 30. Each participant gets €1,000 ($1,167). The winner gets another €1,000 and the runner-up, €500. The top scorer in a single turn also gets €500.