Vietnamese cueist off to rosy start at PBA World Championship 2020-2021

The 46-year-old cueist, ranked 9th by Professional Billiards Association (PBA), had a close game against South Korean Kim Ki-Hyok (24th) after the first day of the tournament with a score of 3-2 (15/13, 11/15, 13/15, 15/8 and 11/3).

Cuiest Ma Minh Cam beat Kim Ki-Hyok 3-2 on Feb. 25, the first day of PBA World Championship 2020-2021 in South Korea. Photo courtesy of Billiard Vietnam.

His next rival in group H is Tae Jun Oh (25th), who beat Sam Il Seo (8th) with a score of 3-0.

Cam is the only Vietnamese player competing in the championship in South Korea from Feb. 25 to March 6.

He has been in the country since last July to participate in multiple PBA events.

Meanwhile, Ngo Dinh Nai and Nguyen Huynh Phuong Linh, the other two Vietnamese players who joined the PBA 3-cushion carom tourney not so long ago, did not qualify for the tournament since organizers could not determine their rankings since they had taken part in less than five events.

According to the league format, 32 local and foreign cueists are divided into eight groups of four players each. Players go head to head following the round-robin format. The top players of each group would advance to round-16.

After the elimination round, the final two players will compete in seven bouts, with the first place awarded to whoever wins four matches.

Since the tournament boasts the biggest prize money ever offered in the history of pool, the winner will walk home with 300 million won (over $267,000) out of the prize pool of 400 million won.