Female players compete in two contrasting disciplines, joining hot girls at 'Vietnam Billiards World Cup'

When Bùi Xuân Vàng stepped onto the carom 3-cushion table on the afternoon of September 8 in Ho Chi Minh City, fans accustomed to seeing her with a pool cue in 9-ball tournaments suddenly saw her sitting at a pocketless table, facing an experienced carom player. The technical difference between the two disciplines lies not only in the table or ball size, but in the entire logic of cue-ball movement. One aims to pot balls; the other only needs to make the correct number of cushion contacts and then hit the object ball. That image sums up the main story of the HBSF Billiards Tour 2 – Cup MIN Table 2026, the event still dubbed the "Vietnam Billiards World Cup" by local fans. Held from September 7 to 11, the tournament brings together nearly 310 players in four events. Women's carom 3-cushion and women's pool attract the most attention because of a series of players who are both good-looking and highly skilled. But behind the flashy descriptions of beauty lies a real technical message: Vietnamese women's billiards is entering a phase where players must become more versatile, moving between different formats to expand their competitive opportunities. Bùi Xuân Vàng is the clearest example. She is the national women's pool champion, but she was also registered for carom 3-cushion at this very event. At first glance, this seems like a curiosity: can a pure pool player perform well in carom? In reality, the two disciplines are almost completely different. Pool requires precise cue-ball control within a small area and the ability to pot balls at exact angles while negotiating other balls as obstacles. Carom 3-cushion requires calculating trajectories so that the cue ball touches at least three cushions before reaching the second object ball; there are no pockets, but there is far greater need for three-dimensional spatial estimation and delicate touch. Switching from pool to carom in the same tournament is not unlike a clay-court specialist suddenly moving to fast grass: basic fundamentals can help, but reflexes and habits must change completely. That is why Bùi Xuân Vàng's 22-21 victory over Nguyễn Thị Thu in the Group C final of the women's carom event on September 9 means far more than a bare scoreline. Looking only at the box score, you see a narrow win. But understanding the context, you see a player trying to run two different mental systems in the same day. At the same time, she was also preparing for her first match in the pool event. Such a workload raises concern among experts about distraction and wasted energy, but Bùi Xuân Vàng herself views it as a learning opportunity. After the match, she said she had learned more skills, a reply that reveals the mindset of an athlete at her peak. The most impressive player in the women's carom group so far is Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh. The reigning Asian and national champion opened her group stage with a 25-9 win over Mỹ Duyên. A 16-point margin in a carom match is not common, because the discipline carries high risk and women players often stay close through every exchange. That dominance suggests Yến Sinh is in excellent psychological shape ahead of her trip to France for the Women's World Championship after this tournament ends. She, along with Nguyễn Thị Liên and Nguyễn Thị Bích Trâm, belongs to the group of players who will travel abroad right after September 11. Another notable new face is Huỳnh Hoa, born in 2026 and coming from Cần Thơ. In her first major HBSF Tour appearance, Huỳnh Hoa lost narrowly to Lê Thị Ngọc Huệ, a SEA Games champion. The defeat may cause disappointment, but in terms of development signals for women's billiards, it shows that the younger generation can already compete at the level of experienced veterans. Huỳnh Hoa stated that she will return at the next tour stop. That promise matters more than any medal in her first tournament. If you only look at the standings, you can easily miss the tactical structure taking shape. HBSF Tour 2 is essentially a domestic event, but the way organizers arranged the women's carom calendar to finish by September 11 so players could leave for France shows that this is not merely a routine tournament. It is a bridge between the domestic arena and the world stage. Group-stage matches are short, often racing to 25 or 30 points, which increases the possibility of upsets. Yet tense matches like 22-21 are exactly what help players forge their fighting spirit before entering international competition. The more pressing issue lies in how the media frames this event. The title "Vietnam Billiards World Cup" is essentially an exaggerated phrase, a marketing stunt to attract viewers, because the tournament's scale cannot be compared with official international events. Local fans may accept that name because it creates a festive atmosphere. But for those who take the sport seriously, the bigger danger is that stories about the female players' looks will overshadow real sporting achievements. When a tournament is remembered more for its "hot girls" than for its actual pool of talent, players like Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh or Lê Thị Ngọc Huệ can easily become supporting characters in their own narrative. I do not deny the media appeal of beautiful faces. But based on my experience watching matches over many years, lasting victories in billiards do not come from fleeting attention. They come from the ability to read the table, control the stroke, and patiently wait for an opponent's mistake. Bùi Xuân Vàng may be the centerpiece of this year's event because she is competing in two contrasting disciplines, but the real question is whether she can maintain her focus throughout the pool event. A 22-21 carom victory is meaningful only if she moves to the pool table with a relaxed mind and fresh legs. The match ends in the eleventh perspective. For me, that perspective is not in the VIP seats nor in the excitement of commentary. It lies in recognizing that the success of Vietnamese women's billiards does not depend on how many players compete in two events at once, but on whether they are given the conditions to play where they are strongest. Bùi Xuân Vàng chose to test herself, and that is her right. Nguyễn Đức Yến Sinh chose to specialise in carom, another reasonable choice. In an environment where a domestic event is trying to become a springboard for world championships, diversity of approaches is itself an important catalyst. This week in Ho Chi Minh City may simply be a stop before the women fly to France. But watching closely, these women's carom matches resemble a capability map of an entire generation. The biggest winner is not necessarily the one standing on the podium at MIN Table, but the one leaving the tournament with lessons that can be carried to Europe. The misshapen diamond appears only when you stop looking at the cue ball. Look at the travel schedule between two different table formats, look at how a player shifts her mindset from pocketing balls to scoring points with three-cushion trajectories, and you will see what emerges from the numbers.