Vietnam's Dao Van Ly Wins 11-0 in a Single Inning at PBA Team League

Vietnam's Dao Van Ly produced the rarest kind of victory in professional three-cushion billiards on 3 November, whitewashing PBA Tour champion Yusuke Mori 11-0 in a single inning at the Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League in Goyang, South Korea.

The 41-year-old rookie needed only the opening turn of the fifth set to reach the 11-point target, leaving the Japanese champion without a single visit to the table. One-inning finishes do occur in Korea's professional carom league, but winning from the very first turn — with the opponent never getting to play — is almost unheard of.

Back-to-back whitewashes

The demolition of Mori came barely 24 hours after another 11-0. On 2 November, with NH Pay locked at 3-3 against High1 Resort, Dao stepped out for the deciding seventh set and blanked Lim Seong-gyun 11-0 in three innings, handing the Nonghyup Card-backed side its first win of the fourth round after two straight full-set defeats.

A familiar victim

Mori is becoming a recurring name in Dao's young professional career. When the Vietnamese entered the PBA Tour this season through the league's priority registration system, his first professional match was a 3-0 win over the same Japanese player, posted with an average of 2.045 and a high run of 7.

The result that got away

Dao's perfect set could not rescue the team scoreline. NH Pay — which also fields fellow Vietnamese Ma Minh Cam, who had earlier pulled off a comeback win in the third set — lost the sixth set and went down 2-4 to SY Builders at the Goyang Kintex PBA Stadium.

Who is Dao Van Ly?

A quarter-finalist at the 2023 Ho Chi Minh three-cushion World Cup, Dao joined the PBA this season and was picked by NH Nonghyup Card in the fourth round of the draft. The Team League's fourth round continues at Goyang Kintex through 8 November.