Vietnam's 2026 National 3-Cushion Club Championship in Can Tho: October 8 and the Fall of the Favourites

On October 8 in Can Tho, the carom — 3-cushion — matches of the 2026 National Billiards and Snooker Club Championship closed with a set of results that forced observers to reopen the score sheet. Tran Quyet Chien, one of Vietnam's leading 3-cushion players, led Truong Be Nam 19-13 before losing 30-28. Shortly after, Tran Thanh Luc led Vo Minh Duy 37-29 yet exited at 40-37. Bao Phuong Vinh lost narrowly to Thoi Hoang Huan 39-40, while Chiem Hong Thai departed with a 16-40 defeat to Nguyen Ngoc Tri.

The discipline on show is carom, specifically 3-cushion, even though the tournament title carries both billiards and snooker. In Vietnam, "billiards" almost always means carom, the discipline in which the country sits among the world's strongest. Familiar snooker constructs such as the "century break" or the "break shot" do not apply. Carom is measured in runs (série), average, and finishing ability.

The event runs from October 1 to October 10, hosted in Can Tho for the first time, drawing 451 players from 13 provinces and cities. The format is single elimination, to 30 points in qualifying and 40 points in the knockout rounds. Some players had to play up to four matches in a single day. Total prize value is about 300 million VND, roughly 11,800 USD. The event awards national ranking points and serves athlete grading and classification.

Watching the day's matches directly, one shared feature stood out in most defeats: the losing player allowed an opponent to produce one or two large runs at the decisive moment. Truong Be Nam made a 10-run and a 5-run in the same match against Tran Quyet Chien. In a race to 30 points, a 10-run covers a third of the entire match. Once the gap narrows within a few innings, the remainder of the match leaves no room to correct mistakes.

The October 8 results came more from format-induced variance than from a straightforward dip in form. In a single-elimination race to 30 or 40 points, the skill gap between a top seed and a mid-tier opponent is compressed. A single large run by an opponent can swing the match far faster than a race to 50 points or time-based play. On top of that, a schedule of up to four matches in one day creates real physical load, especially for the older cohort.

One distinction matters: four high-profile defeats in a day can make viewers think of a generational handover. A single day's data is not enough to assert that. Bao Phuong Vinh's 39-40 loss is a one-point margin in a race to 40, within normal variance, and should not be read as a form signal. The fact that several players lost from a lead points to a common factor across the day — fatigue, table conditions, or format variance — rather than an individual decline. One day's result is noise; an average across many events is the signal.

Data limitation: this article rests on the results and scorelines of a single match day. Carom-native metrics such as average, innings per match, and best run were not fully disclosed. With a one-day sample, no conclusion can be drawn about long-term form or a genuine shift in hierarchy. More data across multiple events and seasons is needed.

On October 9, the quarterfinals start at 08:30, the semifinals at 11:45, and the final at 13:45. With the favourites gone, the rest of the race opens a large opportunity for mid-tier players. What is worth watching is whether the October 8 results repeat at the next event; that would be the sign that the depth of Vietnam's 3-cushion field is genuinely reshuffling the hierarchy.