"My daughter told me to cut my hair, but I didn't think of it." Vietnam Q.Nguyen overwhelms Sanchez in 'Muil Set' and is thrilled to win his first professional tennis championship

*This content was translated by AI.

"Vietnamese powerhouse" Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (43, Hana Card) became the champion four years after his debut in professional baseball.

Q. Nguyen defeated Daniel Sanchez (11-15, 8-15, 15-1, 15-3, 15-9, 4-15, 15-9, 15-2 and 11-4) in the PBA final of the 9th Tour of the 2025-2026 season of Pro Danggu at 'Koyang KINTEX PBA Stadium' in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 2nd.

This makes Q. Nguyen the 25th PBA winner of all time. Q, who received 100 million won in prize money.Nguyen recorded a cumulative prize of 198.5 million won. Q. Nguyen, who was ranked 34th (11 million won) in prize money just before this competition, jumped to 6th place (111 million won) and won a ticket to the World Championship.

Sanchez set the tone at the beginning of the game. Sanchez, who led 10-3 with 6-4 consecutive points in the first set, Q.Nguyen's persistent pursuit allowed him to tie the game at one point, but he scored four runs in the sixth inning of 11-11 to take the lead with 15-11 (6 innings). Sanchez won 15-8 (8 innings) with nine high runs in the second set, leading the set score 2-0.

Q from the third set.Nguyen's counterattack has begun. While Sanchez's explosive scoring ability cooled for a while, Q. Nguyen recovered one set to 15-3 (7 innings) in the third set. Q. With Nguyen taking three sets, Sanchez lost the first set of the tournament. Q, who was trailing 7-8 in the fourth set.Nguyen scored 3-4-1 in a row from the ninth inning, winning 15-9 (11 innings), tying the set score 2-2.

Sanchez took the fifth set to 15-4 (10 innings) and was on the verge of winning, but Q. Nguyen won 15-2 in two innings in the sixth set, and the game went to the last seven sets.

In the last seven sets, Sanchez got off to a good start, scoring four runs from the first inning. The next five points were also scored, but he admitted first that he touched the ball before trying to attack the referee first. Paulo Sanchez's score was canceled, and Q took the right to attack.Nguyen finished 11-3 with three runs in one inning and eight high runs in the third inning. Set Score 4-3 Q. Nguyen wins.

Q. Nguyen was in the spotlight as a representative of Vietnam's three cushions when he was an amateur. Q who entered the PBA with priority registration for the 2022-2023 season.Nguyen fell short of expectations in the first season, ranking 44th in the season, but began to get on track by finishing second in the ninth tour (Crown Haitai Championship) of the 2023-2024 season. Q, who scored a semi-final in the World Championship last season.Nguyen won the PBA's 39th tour, becoming the second Vietnamese national to win the PBA after Mamin Gum (Vietnam, NH Nonghyup Card).

According to the PBA, Q.Nguyen said at a press conference shortly after winning, "It's the best moment I feel so good that it's hard to describe. In fact, the PBA game is really not easy. As such, it is a really good feeling to win like that," he said, adding, "I also feel again why Sanchez, who played today, is the best three-cushion player. He said, "I looked up to Sanchez once again when I saw that he told the referee about the foul he committed during the game."

He lifted his second trophy as a Vietnamese player. Q. Nguyen said, "It's been about four years since I've been working at the PBA. This victory would have been a great gift for acquaintances and billiards officials in Vietnam. Immediately after winning the championship, many people said, "After a long time, I finally won the championship."

Family is more supportive than anyone else. "I talked to my wife on the phone after the awards ceremony. Usually, my wife will come to Korea, but she was unable to come to Korea from Vietnam because she is currently 5 months pregnant. So I told my wife that I won by phone. I think my daughter will be happy, too," he said.

After changing my hairstyle, my grades improved remarkably, which was also due to my daughter's words. Q. Nguyen said, "I like Shin Jung-ju (Hana Card), whose daughter is a teammate. My daughter said she should cut her hair like Shin Jung-joo. "After changing my hairstyle, an unexpected thing happened to win and even win against Shin Jung-joo in this competition," he said. "I've been sticking to my previous hairstyle for 20 years, but now I have to dry my hair and apply wax (laughs). Vietnamese people usually cut their hair short because it's hot in Vietnam, but after changing their hairstyle, people around them say that their impression has improved a lot," he said with a smile.

It has definitely improved in terms of performance. Q. Nguyen said, "I realized a lot about the bank shot. Ahead of the fifth round and postseason, the general manager advised me to practice bank shots more," he said. "Team members Shin Jung-joo and Murat Najee Choclu (Turkiye) also helped me practice bank shots a lot. As I got used to bank shots, I think my performance has improved," he said, expressing satisfaction.

On the other hand, Sanchez attempted to win three consecutive championships for the second time in PBA history, but unfortunately finished second behind Q. Nguyen. Sanchez, who has reached the finals five times this season, won two times and finished second three times, firmly maintained his No. 1 ranking (315 million won, 387,500 points) this season.

The "Welcome Top Ranking" (prize money of 4 million won), which is given to the player with the highest average score in one match of the tournament, was won by Javier Palason (Spain, Huons), who scored 3.750 in the round of 32 against David Zapata (Woori Financial Capital).

Meanwhile, Welcome Savings Bank plans to donate one academic-related product per long hit (more than five points per inning) during the tour. On this tour, a total of 716 long balls (146 LPBA and 570 PBA) were made. In addition, scholarships worth 10 million won each will be delivered to outstanding scholarship students Bang Jung-hwan in the name of Tour PBA winner Q. Nguyen and LPBA winner Lim Kyung-jin.

After completing all nine regular tours of the season with this tournament, the PBA will hold a world championship in Jeju from the 6th of next month to determine the king of the season. Prior to this, the fifth round of the 2025-2026 PBA Dream Tour (Part 2) will be held for four days from the 7th of this month at the Goyang KINTEX PBA Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do.

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*This content was translated by AI.