Vietnam's last player at the fifth stop of the 2026-2027 PBA Tour, Nguyễn Trần Thanh Tạo, went out in the last 16 on the afternoon of 24 October, beaten 3-0 by South Korea's Kim Nam-soo. The home player won the sets 15-13, 15-11 and 15-6, closing the match with a run of 12 points. The result leaves Vietnamese three-cushion carom without a player in the quarter-finals of the event, Thanh Niên reported.
The match started at 15:00 Vietnam time, according to the schedule Thanh Niên published earlier. Thanh Tạo was the only Vietnamese player left after the last-32 round on 23 October.
How Kim pulled away
Thanh Niên described Kim Nam-soo as a player without notable results in Korean professional billiards who is nevertheless in outstanding form at this event. The first set was cagey and level, the two players trading points before Kim edged it 15-13 to lead 1-0.
In the second set Thanh Tạo went on the attack, making a run of 6 points on his opening inning and adding a run of 5 points on his second inning to build a lead. Kim did not answer with big runs, but he took his chances and scored steadily to win the set 15-11 and go 2-0 up.
With two sets in hand, the Korean grew in confidence. In the third set he made a run of 12 points to win 15-6 and complete the 3-0 victory.
Vietnam's results from the last 32
Four Vietnamese players reached the last 32 on 23 October, but only one went through, according to Thanh Niên. KBVN+ compiled the results from two Thanh Niên reports:
| Stage | Vietnamese player | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last 32 (23 October) | Nguyễn Trần Thanh Tạo | Đào Văn Ly (Vietnam) | 3-0 | Into last 16 |
| Last 32 (23 October) | Nguyễn Huỳnh Phương Linh | David Zapata (Spain) | 1-3 | Out |
| Last 32 (23 October) | Thón Viết Hoàng Minh | Lee Choong-bok (South Korea) | 1-3 | Out |
| Last 16 (24 October) | Nguyễn Trần Thanh Tạo | Kim Nam-soo (South Korea) | 0-3 | Out |
Because Thanh Tạo and Đào Văn Ly met in an all-Vietnamese tie in the last 32, Vietnam were guaranteed one player in the last 16. Phương Linh and Hoàng Minh both lost 1-3. The Vietnamese players' earlier rounds are covered in our stories on four Vietnamese players reaching the last 32 and Đào Văn Ly's comeback into the last 64.
A two-event winning run ends
The exit stings for Vietnamese fans because Vietnam had won the previous two stops on the PBA Tour. Thanh Tạo won the third event and Nguyễn Quốc Nguyện took the fourth on 12 October, beating Spain's David Martinez, Thanh Niên reported. With nobody left in the quarter-finals, there will be no third straight Vietnamese title at the fifth stop.
Born in 1997, Thanh Tạo only joined the PBA at the start of the 2026-2027 season. He won the title at just his second event, coming from behind against Turkish veteran Semih Sayginer in the August final, according to Thanh Niên. Before meeting Kim, he had been winning comfortably in earlier rounds and was aiming for a second PBA Tour title.
What comes next
The fifth stop continues with the quarter-finals and no Vietnamese player. Kim Nam-soo is among the eight players through. According to Thanh Niên's schedule, the other last-16 ties were: Montes against David Zapata in an all-Spanish match, Can Capak against Adnan Yuksel in an all-Turkish match, Cho Keon-hwi against Kang Dong-koong, Kang Eui-joo against Lee Seung-jin, Kim Young-won against Lee Sang-dae, Oh Tae-jun against David Martinez, and Lee Choong-bok against Kim Kwan-won. The results of those ties were not in the two Thanh Niên reports KBVN+ used.