Female cueists compete in two contrasting events, hot girls battle at 'Vietnamese Billiards World Cup'

Ho Chi Minh City – On September 9, 2026, the HBSF Billiards Tour 2 – MIN Table Cup in Ho Chi Minh City entered the decisive group-stage matches. Nearly 310 cueists competed across four events, forming a genuine billiards gathering before the Vietnamese women's team left for the World Championship in France. Fans jokingly call it the “Vietnamese Billiards World Cup”, because the tournament gathered almost all leading female names in Vietnamese billiards: reigning Asian champion Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh, reigning national women's pool champion Bùi Xuân Vàng, SEA Games champion Lê Thị Ngọc Huệ, and many young faces receiving special media attention. The most notable story on September 9 was Bùi Xuân Vàng. She registered in two technically contrasting events: carom 3-cushion and pool. Pool is a pocket billiards discipline built around cue-ball control after each shot, while carom 3-cushion requires the cue ball to contact at least three cushions before hitting the second object ball. Bùi Xuân Vàng is the reigning national women's pool champion, yet she still appeared in the carom arena, where players must completely change their sense of power, angles, and positional thinking. Competing in two disciplines at the same tournament is not only a physical challenge but also a test of continuously switching between different technical and mental states. In her opening match in the women's carom event, Bùi Xuân Vàng narrowly defeated Nguyễn Thị Thu 22–21. The close scoreline showed that the pool specialist could not achieve a dominant position in carom. Later the same afternoon, she faced Nguyễn Ngọc Phương Anh for first place in Group C, and then had to play her first pool match. This congested schedule raises a real question: does playing two events simultaneously reduce her strength in pool, her main discipline? If Bùi Xuân Vàng represents versatility, Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh demonstrated absolute power in women's carom. In the group stage, the reigning Asian and national champion defeated Mỹ Duyên 25–9. A 16-point margin in a short carom match indicated outstanding continuous scoring ability. This performance strengthened her status before she, Nguyễn Thị Liên, and Nguyễn Thị Bích Trâm travelled to France for the Women's World Championship. The fact that the women's carom group stage was scheduled to end on September 11, right before departure, shows that the HBSF Tour 2 is not merely a local event. For the women players, it serves as a tactical warm-up for a major international competition. Another notable story was Huỳnh Hoa, a 2026-born debutant from Cần Thơ. In her first large tournament of nearly 310 players, Huỳnh Hoa fought hard against Lê Thị Ngọc Huệ, the SEA Games champion. Although she lost narrowly, she impressed with her determination and ability to stay close on the scoreboard against a much more experienced player. She was also among those introduced as “billiards hot girls”, alongside Tú Trinh and Nguyễn Phương Thủy Tiên. Media attention on appearance is understandable in sports entertainment, but actual achievement and professional depth are what will define long-term value. The absence of Dương Quốc Hoàng, considered the strongest male carom 3-cushion player, was also mentioned. The tournament lost a box-office star, but this created opportunities for others to shine. In a context where Vietnamese billiards still lacks many truly international events, the nickname “Vietnamese Billiards World Cup” reflects the organisers' ambition more than an official title. A domestic tournament with 310 players, four events, and the presence of Asian-level champions indicates that HBSF is trying to build a professional tour. This matters even more when several women players use the event to build match sharpness before stepping onto the world stage. From a data perspective, Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh's 25–9 victory is the clearest signal of current form. But one group-stage win is insufficient to confirm that the Asian champion will dominate the whole event. Similarly, Bùi Xuân Vàng's 22–21 win shows she is still adapting to carom 3-cushion, not yet fully fluent. For Huỳnh Hoa, a narrow loss to a SEA Games champion could be a mental stepping stone, but more data from future tour stops is needed to determine whether she is truly a new force in Vietnamese women's carom. The most awaited clash in the next two days is the Group C women's carom decider between Bùi Xuân Vàng and Nguyễn Ngọc Phương Anh. If Bùi Xuân Vàng wins the group, she will enter the knockout stage with confidence before focusing fully on pool. If she loses, her two-discipline workload could become a tactical weakness. For Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh, the goal is not only the HBSF Tour 2 title, but also psychological momentum before the World Championship in France. Meanwhile, “hot girls” such as Huỳnh Hoa, Tú Trinh, and Nguyễn Phương Thủy Tiên need more actual victories to turn media attention into a sustainable place in the billiards scene. The balls are rolling across the tables in Ho Chi Minh City, carrying a purely Vietnamese sports story that is taking shape. “Vietnamese Billiards World Cup” may be only a media nickname, but sending women players to France, letting young cueists compete with their seniors, and allowing a pool player to try carom are real signals of a billiards community trying to mature. The open question remains: can Bùi Xuân Vàng carry two events to the end, and how much confidence will Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh bring from this tournament to France? Look at the scoreboards on September 9 and 10 for the first answers.