Data Revolution in Vietnamese Billiards: When Numbers Transform Perspective on the Sport

In a billiards training room in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City, Nguyen Van Minh sits in front of his laptop screen, hundreds of numbers scrolling across an Excel spreadsheet. He is one of the few Vietnamese attempting to bring data analysis methods to billiards - an ambitious yet controversial endeavor.

Three years of following professional billiards tournaments, I have witnessed significant changes in how Vietnamese players approach this sport. From the early 2010s, when amateur billiards competitions began flourishing nationwide, most players still relied on experience and intuition. But now, a quiet transformation is underway.

The Rise of Quantitative Analysis

Tran Dinh Phong, 34, a former national 8-ball champion in 2026, is among the pioneers applying data to training. He shares: "Before, I trained by feel. But after starting to record metrics like accuracy rate, successful bank shots, and cue ball control time, I realized I had missed many improvement opportunities."

According to Vietnam Billiards Federation statistics, from 2026 to 2026, the number of professional tournaments held in Vietnam increased by 47%, generating substantial competition data. However, collecting and analyzing this data still faces many limitations.

Based on my experience following matches, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of standardized recording systems. Each tournament calculates and records statistics differently, making comparisons difficult. Meanwhile, international snooker events have had complete data systems for decades.

Perspectives from Insiders

Le Thi Huong, a billiards coach in Hanoi with 15 years of experience, doesn't fully support this trend. "Billiards is a sport of emotion and art," she says. "When a player enters the competition room, psychological pressure, opponent atmosphere - all those elements cannot be completely quantified in numbers."

This is a common view in Vietnam's billiards community. Many veteran players believe that skills like angle perception, table reading ability, and instinct in decisive moments cannot be replaced by data analysis.

However, Nguyen Hoang Long, manager of New Star Billiards Club in HCMC, sees it differently. "Data doesn't replace skill, but it helps identify weaknesses that need improvement. After each match, we review video footage and record every shot. This helps my students progress faster."

Global Comparison

Globally, data analysis in billiards has been applied for a long time. At top-level snooker events like the World Championship, statistics companies like CueTracker and Snooker.org provide detailed profiles of each player, including potting percentage, century break counts, and head-to-head records.

In America, professional Nine-ball tournaments use the Driver scoring system, tracking every shot in real-time. This creates rich data for tactical analysis and outcome prediction.

China, the country leading billiards professional development, has invested heavily in data-based training systems. Many billiards academies in China are equipped with tracking cameras to analyze every player movement.

Current Situation in Vietnam

Returning to Nguyen Van Minh's story in Binh Thanh District. He developed a simple application to record statistics for practice matches at his club. "My goal isn't to replace a player's feel," he explains. "It's to create a tool that helps them understand themselves better."

His application currently has about 200 regular users, mainly young players in HCMC and Hanoi. However, this number is tiny compared to millions of amateur billiards players across the country.

One of the biggest barriers is Vietnamese billiards culture. For many, billiards is weekend recreation, not a sport requiring serious analysis. Recording statistics is seen as "too mechanical" and "ruining the fun atmosphere."

Future Prospects

Despite ongoing debates, the data analysis trend in Vietnamese billiards is steadily increasing. The 2026 National Billiards Championship began trialing an online statistics system, though still rudimentary and incomplete.

Dang Quoc Viet, Vice President of Vietnam Billiards Federation, states: "We recognize the importance of data. In the future, we will develop internationally standardized statistics systems for professional tournaments."

For me, after years of following the sport, the most important thing is finding balance. Data is a tool, not a replacement for player skill and emotion. A beautiful billiards match isn't just statistical numbers, but a story about people, about tension and excitement moments that no spreadsheet can fully capture.

When Nguyen Van Minh's laptop screen turns off, he still sits there, hundreds of numbers in hand, but his gaze turns toward the billiard table in the corner of the room. Perhaps that's exactly where data and art intersect - where the future of Vietnamese billiards is being written.