A Taiwan–China pairing finished what five days of double-elim drama set up: Hsieh Chia-Chen and Liu Shasha lifted the Mixed Doubles Open title in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday night, while the men’s World 10-Ball field finally drops the safety net and goes single-elim on Thursday.
Saigon — Hsieh & Liu outlast Yapp–Lu for Mixed Doubles crown
Per Absolute Pool, Hsieh and Liu — both 33 — came through the losers’ side after an opening defeat, then survived a shootout to dump favourites Chezka Centeno and Jayson Shaw in losers’ qualification. From there almost every match went the full three sets, including comeback wins in the quarters and semis.
In the final they faced pool’s power couple: WNT No.1 Aloysius Yapp and fiancée Silviana Lu. Set one went to Hsieh–Liu after Yapp missed a routine nine and a tough five; Liu’s two–five jump combo swung the set. Yapp–Lu answered 4–1 in set two. Set three belonged to Hsieh–Liu again — dry break, runouts, Liu’s jump on the two, and a closing four-and-nine clearance that sealed the maiden Mixed Doubles title and $38,000.
Liu and Lu both return to the Poison Saigon women’s draw; Yapp’s reward on the men’s side is a last-32 date with two-time World 10-Ball runner-up Naoyuki Oi.
Men’s World 10-Ball — knockout mode on
After five days at Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium, the 2026 Iwan Simonis WPA Men’s 10-Ball World Championship is down to 32. Format flips to best-of-five sets (race-to-4; 3–3 shootout). Headline Thursday pairings (Absolute Pool / CueScore):
- Jayson Shaw vs Shane van Boening — SVB walked through after Casper Matikainen’s illness forfeit
- Eklent Kaçi vs Niels Feijen — Kaçi’s reward for ending host icon Dương Quốc Hoàng
- Fedor Gorst vs Kledio Kaçi — rematch of their 2025 World Pool Championship semi
- Aloysius Yapp vs Naoyuki Oi
Flawless early runs for Shaw, Joshua Filler and Gorst. USA’s Skyler Woodward is flying after brushing aside Carlo Biado and Kledio Kaçi en route. China’s Mi Le supplied the shock of losers’ qual by straight-setting 2024 champion Biado. Also through: Francisco Sánchez Ruiz, Robbie Capito, Wojciech Szewczyk, Alexander Kazakis, Wiktor Zieliński, Mieszko Fortuński, Mario He (revenge over Moritz Neuhausen), Albin Ouschan, Sean Mark Malayan, Johann Chua and more. Prize fund $300,000 / $80,000 to the champion; finals day Saturday 26 September. Throne vacated by Ko Ping-Chung.
Leicester wrap — Scottish Open quals done
The 11-day Mattioli Arena slog is finished. SnookerHQ’s full results dump (24 Sept) confirms the 32 qualifiers for Edinburgh (14–20 December). Standouts: former champion Luca Brecel 4–0 Gong Chenzhi; Scots Anthony McGill and Scott Donaldson both through; youth tickets for Stan Moody, Liam Davies, Liam Pullen, Aaron Hill, Dylan Emery and Iulian Boiko; China’s Xu Si, Fan Zhengyi, Lyu Haotian, Gao Yang, Yao Pengcheng, Jiang Jun and Liu Hongyu — the last of those edged Jimmy White 4–3 after the Whirlwind’s 131 had him 3–2 up. They join the top-32 seeds in the last-64 draw.
Sofia — Q Tour Europe Event 2 final day
WPBSA Q Tour Europe Event 2 at the Princess Hotel hits quarters this morning (Lam vs Dean Young; Skalski vs Edward Jones; Mark Lloyd vs Sybren Sokolowski; European Six Reds champion Aaron Busuttil vs Riley Powell), then semis and a best-of-7 final for £6,000 / 10,000 ranking points. Event-one winner Sanderson Lam is still alive. Scores still live as we post — no unfinished frames claimed here. Watch via the Q Tour YouTube streams.
Weekend watch — Delhi 8-ball
India’s cue calendar keeps humming: the NSCI Open 8-Ball runs 26 September–5 October at NSCI Club, Mathura Road, New Delhi (Delhi Billiards & Snooker Association / NSCI). ₹5 lakh purse; names include former world billiards champion Sourav Kothari, national 8-ball champion Sundeep Gulati, Kamal Chawla, Vidya Pillai and former national 8-ball winner Chitra Magimairaj.
Where to watch
- World 10-Ball / Saigon Festival: Billiard TV, Pro Billiard TV (YouTube), Box Billiards Vietnam, CueScore / Pro Billiard Series
- Scottish Open (venue stages Dec): WST Play and partners once the Edinburgh draw drops
- Q Tour Sofia: WPBSA / Q Tour YouTube
Photo: Poeloq / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0). File:8ballpool.jpg — man playing pool in Beijing, China.
