The Universal Open HCMC 2026 takes place from November 11–15 at Sniper Billiards Club in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The 128-player nine-ball tournament is a World Nineball Tour Silver ranking event, with a US$63,000 prize fund and US$15,000 for the champion.
Here are the livestream links, tournament format, prize breakdown, featured players and venue details.
Universal Open HCMC 2026 livestream: how to watch
Follow the tournament through Fullcan Sports on YouTube and WNT TV:
Open the Fullcan Sports channel’s Live tab to find scheduled and ongoing broadcasts. Check each platform’s event listings for stream start times, featured tables and access details.
For Philippine viewers: the Philippines is one hour ahead of Vietnam. Add one hour to any match time listed in Vietnam local time. For example, 1:00 PM in Vietnam is 2:00 PM Philippine time.
Dates, venue and tournament details
The event runs from November 11 to 15, 2026, with play at Sniper Billiards Club. The venue address is No. 172 Lê Thị Bạch Cát Street, Phú Thọ Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
- Discipline: 9-ball
- Field: 128 players
- Status: Matchroom World Nineball Tour Silver ranking event
- Rules: official Matchroom WNT rules
- Format: double elimination to the last 64, followed by single elimination
Featured players
The official WNT event page features the following players, including six Filipinos:
- 🇵🇭 Carlo Biado
- 🇵🇭 Johann Chua
- 🇵🇭 Anton Raga
- 🇵🇭 Bernie Regalario
- 🇵🇭 Jeffrey Ignacio
- 🇵🇭 James Aranas
- 🇸🇬 Aloysius Yapp
- 🇭🇰 Robbie Capito
- 🇭🇺 Olivér Szolnoki
- 🇩🇰 Mickey Krause
- 🇹🇼 Wu Kun Lin
These are the featured names on the WNT page, rather than the complete 128-player entry list.
Tournament format and race lengths
Stage I uses double elimination to reduce the field from 128 to 64. Players can recover from one defeat during this stage, but a second loss means elimination.
Stage II is straight knockout from the last 64. Every match becomes an elimination match, with the race length increasing for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final.
| Stage | Matches | Race to |
|---|---|---|
| Stage I | Winner bracket | 9 |
| Stage I | Loser bracket | 8 |
| Stage I | Qualification matches in both brackets | 9 |
| Stage II | Last 64, last 32 and last 16 | 10 |
| Stage II | Quarter-finals | 11 |
| Stage II | Semi-finals | 11 |
| Stage II | Final | 13 |
Prize money
The US$63,000 prize fund pays down to 64th place. The champion earns US$15,000 and a trophy, while the runner-up receives US$8,000 and a trophy. Both semi-finalists receive US$4,000 and a trophy each.
| Finish | Prize per player |
|---|---|
| Champion | US$15,000 + trophy |
| Runner-up | US$8,000 + trophy |
| Semi-finalists | US$4,000 + trophy |
| 5th–8th | US$2,000 |
| 9th–16th | US$1,000 |
| 17th–32nd | US$500 |
| 33rd–64th | US$250 |
Official equipment
- Tables: Rasson OX, Rasson Accura Wolf and Rasson Accura
- Cloth: CPBA Royal Apex
- Cues: Universal Cue
- Tips: MOORI Tips
- Chalk: Turning Point Chalk
- Balls: Dynaspheres ball sets