This marks the second consecutive year Vietnam has guaranteed a tournament medal, once again led by Quyet Chien and Phuong Vinh. Last year, they reached the semifinals and went on to win the championship.

Bao Phuong Vinh (L) and Tran Quyet Chien at the group stage of the 2025 World Championship 3-Cushion National Teams in Viersen, Germany, March 2025.

In the quarterfinals on Saturday, Vietnam faced a weaker Mexican team, with Javier Vera and Christian Hernandez both ranked outside the world’s top 50.

Despite his lower ranking, Vera had made a surprising impact in the group stage by defeating reigning world champion Cho Myung-woo and former World Cup winner Jeremy Bury.

However, Vera's unbeaten run ended against Quyet Chien. Vietnam's top player started strong with an 11-point run to take an early 11-3 lead. He maintained control throughout and sealed a 40-28 victory after 23 innings.

Quyet Chien had struggled in the group stage, losing to Peter Ceulemans and Torbjorn Blomdahl. But against Vera, he found his rhythm, delivering precise, high-scoring shots to dominate the match.

Phuong Vinh continued his strong performance, overpowering Hernandez 40-14 in just 16 innings. He built a commanding 12-1 lead early on.

Though Hernandez briefly closed the gap with four scoring turns, Vinh responded with runs of 8 and 7 points to pull ahead 32-12 before closing out the match.

Over four matches, Phuong Vinh has averaged 1.798 points per inning. However, he has faced weaker opponents than Quyet Chien due to the tournament format, which pairs higher-ranked players against each other and lower-ranked ones accordingly. Quyet Chien is ranked fourth in the world, while Phuong Vinh is ranked 14th.

With this victory, Vietnam moves on to the semifinals, where the players will face Belgium's at 5 p.m. on Sunday. The two teams previously met in the group stage, with Quyet Chien losing to Ceulemans and Phuong Vinh defeating Roland Forthomme.

The World Championship 3-Cushion National Teams has been held annually since 1990. This year's tournament features 16 teams divided into four groups, competing in a round-robin format from March 13 to 16 in Viersen, Germany.

Each match is played on two separate tables, with players facing their assigned opponents. In the knockout rounds, tied matches are decided by a scotch doubles tiebreaker, where both players from each team take turns on a single table.

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