Hanoi hosts world’s leading three-cushion billiards tournament for first time

The PBA-LPBA SY Bazaar Hanoi Open 2024 is being held at Grand Plaza Ha Noi Hotel from August 19-25, marking the first time the PBA tour, the world’s leading three-cushion billiards tournament, has been taking place in Vietnam.

The competition features 192 cueists, including 27 from Vietnam.

According to the event’s organising committee, a prize pool of 250 million KRW (187,000 USD) will be awarded to the top male athletes, with the champion receiving 100 million KRW. On the women's side, the total purse is 100 million KRW, with the winner taking home 40 million KRW.

Speaking at a press briefing on August 22 in Hanoi, Lee Hee Jin, vice president of Professional Billiards Association (PBA) said that Vietnam is also known as an emerging powerhouse in three-cushion billiards, with world-class players.

He held that the three-cushion movement in Vietnam ranks second globally after the RoK and is continually growing, thus, PBA has chosen the Southeast Asian nation as the starting point of its global tour.

The PBA plans to host three tours in Vietnam, with events scheduled in the major cities of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang in the coming time, he continued.

The PBA, a commercial billiards organisation of the Republic of Korea (RoK), initially operated on a national level but has seen significant international growth since its inaugural season in 2019.

Now in its sixth season, the organisers have chosen to move the tournament beyond the RoK border to Vietnam which is recognised as a 'rising star in the billiards world.'

Up to 60% of the foreign viewership on the PBA TV YouTube channel comes from Vietnam, statistics showed./.

VNA