Dang Dinh Tien took home the cushion caroms gold medal at the Asian Billiards Championships 2009 in South Korea on Thursday.

Tien, who won Vietnam’s National one-cushion championship in May, defeated Japanese player Machida Tadashi in the finals after beating Cho Jea Ho from South Korea in the semifinals.

Tien’s compatriot Cao Thanh Truc won the bronze medal in the same category after beating Cho Jea Ho in the fight for the third place.

This is Tien’s first gold medal on the international stage after he took a silver medal at the 2003 South East Asian Games in Vietnam and a bronze medal at the 1997 SEA Games in Indonesia.

The object cushion caroms is to hit both object balls with at least one rail being hit before the second ball.

Reported by Hong Long