Vietnam now has only one player remaining in the Last 16 round of the European billiards tournament.

At the European Open Championship 2026, player Duong Quoc Hoang excellently secured a spot in the Last 16, thereby becoming the sole representative of Vietnamese billiards still in this year's competition.

After his two teammates successively stopped at the round of 32, "Hoang Sao" now must continue his journey alone among the world's top players.

In the Last 32 round, Duong Quoc Hoang continued to maintain stable performance. He defeated Aleksa Pecelj with a score of 10-4 to secure a spot in the round of 16 strongest players. This victory makes Hoang Sao the greatest hope for Vietnamese billiards at the tournament.

After completing his match, Duong Quoc Hoang stayed to cheer for his close teammate Pham Phuong Nam in the match against Moritz Neuhausen. With encouragement from Hoang Sao, Phuong Nam created an emotional comeback from a 3-8 deficit to equalize 9-9.

However, in the decisive rack, an unfavorable break situation caused the Vietnamese player to lose his advantage. Neuhausen seized the opportunity to end the match with a narrow 10-9 victory, causing Phuong Nam to stop with regret.

The successive departures of his two teammates make Duong Quoc Hoang the sole remaining Vietnamese representative at the tournament. In the Last 16, Hoang Sao will face Francisco Sanchez Rui, one of the world's top players. This also recreates a notable rematch between the two players who previously met in the final of a major tournament.

This year's tournament takes place in Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina), gathering up to 256 international players competing in the World Nineball Tour system. Vietnam has three representatives participating: Duong Quoc Hoang, Pham Phuong Nam, and Luong Duc Thien. In the Last 64 round, two of the three Vietnamese players delivered very convincing victories.

Pham Phuong Nam played first and completed his task well by defeating Dimitris Loukatos with a score of 10-5. Solid play and good table control helped the Vietnamese player maintain an advantage for most of the match.

Immediately after, Duong Quoc Hoang created an even more impressive performance by defeating Salvador Garcia with an absolute score of 10-0. The match ended swiftly within about an hour, as Hoang Sao almost gave his opponent no chance to approach the table.

Effective breaks and precise cue ball control allowed the Vietnamese player to continuously complete racks. For most of the time, Garcia could only sit and wait as Hoang Sao completely controlled the game. Only in the final rack did the Spanish player score his first point, but a subsequent mistake helped Duong Quoc Hoang close out the overwhelmingly dominant whitewash victory.

Meanwhile, Luong Duc Thien's journey ended early after a 3-10 defeat against Dutch young talent Yannick Pongers. Against the opponent's soaring performance, the Vietnamese player had few opportunities to showcase his skills.