Duong Quoc Hoang has been crowned the Premier League Pool champion in Florida, defeating Francisco Sanchez Ruiz 7-4 in the final to become the first Vietnamese major champion on the World Nineball Tour.
Duong scooped the $25,000 champion’s cheque and created history in the sunshine state in a landmark triumph for Vietnamese pool, following in the footsteps of former Premier League champions Albin Ouschan, Shane van Boening, Sanchez Ruiz and Moritz Neuhausen.
His monumental success involved winning 24 matches and 144 racks across five days in the marathon invitational, incredibly topping the league standings prior to play-offs victories over teenage sensation Albert Januarta and former champion Sanchez Ruiz.
Duong, the world number 24, defied a 14-match winning streak from Eklent Kaci to emerge as the league leader, notably defeating Kaci in two crucial victories to qualify for Sunday evening’s play-offs as the deserved front runner.
The Martian fended off a three-rack comeback from Indonesian teenager Januarta in a hill-hill thriller to reach the final, with the 17-year-old phenom having whitewashed Robbie Capito in a nerveless straight shootout to qualify for the play-offs on debut.
Sanchez Ruiz had beaten Albania’s Kaci 7-5 in the semi-finals in a match that featured a phenomenal four-nine combination from the Spaniard, although it was Duong who capitalised on errors to mount a 5-2 lead in the championship contest.
There were subsequently signs of nerves for Duong as he missed a relatively routine nine ball with the cue ball welded to the rail for the title in a moment of sheer disbelief, something that would have tested the mental fortitude of the eventual champion.
Nevertheless, the leading figure in the pool-obsessed Vietnam soon corrected that error. He restored his composure by hooking FSR behind the seven ball, opening up the table and then cleaning up to add to his Scottish Open title of two years ago.
Defending champion Neuhausen was knocked out following the initial phase, managing a mere five victories from his 15 matches, while world number three Aloysius Yapp exited after phase two having won half of his 24 league matches.
Chris Melling impressed on his nineball return, unfortunately falling one point adrift of Januarta in the final play-off position, with a 5-0 loss to the Indonesian teenager proving critical on the final day.
Following a successful tournament at Classic Billiards, the Premier League will return to the Florida pool hall in 2027, with 16 of the world’s best players competing from February 16-21.
