Hoang won both of his opening knockout matches on Friday.

Earlier in the round of 64, he had avenged his previous loss to England's Dean Shields at the 2024 Hanoi Open by defeating the home player 10-8.

Duong Quoc Hoang during his match against AJ Manas in the round of 32 at the U.K. Open 9-ball tournament in Telford, Shropshire, West Midlands, U.K., May 8, 2025.

In the round of 32, Hoang faced a bigger challenge in Manas, who is considered a pool prodigy in the Philippines with nearly 600,000 Facebook followers and a reputation for playing high-stakes matches worth tens of thousands of dollars.

However, Manas struggled in this match, scratching twice. In the third rack, despite a favorable position, he missed the 7-ball, allowing Hoang to take a 2-1 lead.

From there, Vietnam’s number one cueist steadily widened the gap and cruised to a 10-4 victory. In the final rack, facing a difficult shot on the 8-ball, Hoang opted for a safety play instead of risking a bank. This forced Manas into a jump shot, eventually giving Hoang a better opportunity to seal the win.

In addition to Hoang, two other Vietnamese players Pham Phuong Nam and Nguyen Anh Tuan advanced in the knockout round.

Nam defeated Spain's Salvador Garcia 10-6 in the round of 64 and will face Germany's Thorsten Hohmann in the round of 32.

Tuan triumphed 10-3 over Austria’s Daniel Guttenberger and will meet Lin Ta Li in the next round.

The round of 16 and quarterfinals will take place on Saturday afternoon (Hanoi time). Hoang is set to face either Nam or Hohmann in the round of 16.

The U.K. Open is a major event on the World Nineball Tour (WNT), held from May 6 to 11 in Telford, England. Vietnam has six participants this year but three were eliminated in the double-elimination qualifying stage.

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