In the home arena, Vietnamese players claimed 9 of the 16 spots in the group 1 rankings, with Choi Wan-young (Gwangju) and Lim Hyeong-muk (Suwon) successfully advancing to the preliminary round 3 (PQ).
Choi Wan-young won his first match on the 20th against 'Under-22 (U-22) Asian 3-Cushion Champion' Kim Do-hyun, defeating him 30-22 (17 innings) in a close match, and managed to defeat Nguyen Trung Hung (Vietnam) 30-29 in just 20 innings.
Lim Hyeong-muk, a beneficiary of SOOP's 'Road to UMB' project, overcame Cristian Latorre (Colombia) 30-19 (39 innings) in his first match. He also defeated Manolis Minaolou (Turkey) 30-20 (34 innings) to secure first place in his group.
Kim Do-hyun, who was anticipated, and the Asian Championship runner-up Yang Seung-mo (16) were eliminated in the second round. Kim finished 4th in group B with 2 losses, while Yang had to be satisfied with 2nd place in group L.
In addition, Lee Beom-yeol (Siheung Sports Council), Jung Seung-il (Seoul), Kim Dong-ryong (Seoul), Lee Tae-yeon (Guri), and Kim Hyeong-gon (Seoul) also experienced elimination. From 1 p.m. on the 21st, Korea's Choi Wan-young and Lim Hyeong-muk, as well as strong competitors like Kang Ja-eun (Chungnam Sports Council) and Son Jun-hyeok (Bucheon Sports Council), will participate.
All matches of this tournament will be broadcast live worldwide through SOOP's global platform. It can also be watched on SOOP's cable channels KT (Channel 129), DLive (Channel 160), LGU+ (Channel 120), LG HelloVision (Channel 194), SK Broadband (Channel 234), and Seokyung Broadcasting (Channel 256). The tournament broadcast schedule, as well as replays and highlights, can be found on SOOP's 'Billiards Exclusive Special Page.'
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