3-Cushion
DAEJEON - Tomorrow, Saturday, they will fly back to Vietnam, finally, after an enforced detention in Daejeon, South Korea, for over eight weeks. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Quyet Chien Tran, two Vietnamese players from the top of the world rankings, played in the Five and Six tournament in Wonju, won by Dick Jaspers in July this year. But they could not return home afterwards.
The flights from South Korea to Vietnam were blocked all those weeks. For seven, eight weeks, the Vietnamese billiard players stayed in a hotel in Daejeon, tomorrow they can finally return. ''First we have to spend two weeks in quarantine,'' said Nguyen, who is relieved that he can finally travel back after a three-month stay in South Korea.
The two Vietnamese have still not been vaccinated. That puts participation in the World Cup in Veghel and other tournaments at risk. ''I think this World Cup comes too soon for us, because the vaccinations have not yet been scheduled.'' The Vietnamese had to pay the costs of the much longer stay in South Korea themselves.
The statement that appeared on a Dutch facebook site about the UMB, he insists, is complete nonsense. ''I have never said to anyone that we blame the UMB for not helping us to leave here. In fact, I have never talked to anyone on Facebook.''
The World Cup in Veghel is on the UMB calendar from 7 to 13 November, the Lausanne Billard Masters for over a week later. The expectations are that the UMB calendar will be maintained for the coming months.
