Team India continues to shine at the ongoing Asian Poker Tour Phu Quoc 2024, the 82-event series with a whopping VND 44 Billion ($1.70 Million) in guaranteed prizes, which has already crossed its half-way mark.
Following the Natural India Executive Director and Ambassador Kunal Patni’s victory in the VND 4 Million Tick Tock BOOM! Super Hold’em, another Indian player from Mumbai, Avneesh Munjal, shone for India, claiming victory in Event #29: VND 60 Million High Roller – Double Stack for VND 1.541 billion (INR 51.34 Lakhs)..
Munjal, a dominant force both in live and online poker arena, navigated his way to the top through a tough field of 117 entries. His journey to victory was nothing short of spectacular as he started the final day as one of the shortest stacks but staged an incredible comeback.
He surged to the lead and maintained it, ultimately seizing victory and earning him a career-best VND 1.541 billion (INR 51.34 Lakhs).
The latest win was Munjal’s first-ever APT title and second title of 2024, following his victory in the Short Deck (Event #19) at the VPL Summer Series Hanoi in May and making it his third live poker title overall.
In the final heads-up battle, Munjal battled it out against Event #3: Single Day High Roller – Freezeout winner Mingcong Chen from China. The latter put up a strong fight but ultimately fell short in an over two-hour long heads-up battle, finishing as the runner-up with VND 1.042 Billion ($41,106). This marked his second biggest score of the year.
Another Indian who made his mark in the High Roller – Double Stack was Amit Kaushik. The 28-year-old poker prodigy from Haryana finished in eighth place for VND205.30 Million (INR 6.84 Lakhs). Kaushik, who has won live titles at the prestigious stops like the WPT, APT, USOP, WPC, and the DPT, also made a strong impact in #42: Turbo of the series, finishing sixth out of the 75-entry field and taking home VND 39,940,000.
APT Phu Quoc 2024 High Roller – Double Stack Final Table Results (VND)
1. Avneesh Munjal – VND 1,541,930,000
2. Mingcong Chen – VND 1,041,840,000
3. Sergius Angelo Santos – VND 677,190,000
4. William Jia – VND 560,750,000
5. Nguyen Trung Quan – VND 452,280,000
6. Gab Yong Kim – VND 356,680,000
7. Milos Skrbic – VND 272,720,000
8. Amit Kaushik – VND 205,300,000
9. Xin Tang – VND 153,210,000
Kunal Patni Scores His Fourth Final Table Finish In #41: Turbo – Double Stack
Other Indians who added to Team India’s latest success in the series were Natural8 India director Kunal Patni and Myron Pereira. Patni, who kicked India’s campaign in style with two final table finishes and a victory in the VND 4 Million Tick Tock BOOM! Super Hold’em is on fire.
Patni came close to winning another title in the series, finishing in a strong fourth place in Event #41: Turbo – Double Stack and claiming VND 101,450,000 – his biggest score in the ongoing series. He battled his way through a star-studded field of 127 entries, which was eventually topped by Vietnam’s own Do Tien Vu, who walked away with a hefty VND 278,940,000 for his remarkable win.
TURBO – DOUBLE STACK FINAL TABLE RESULTS
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Do Tien Vu | VND 278,940,000 |
| 2nd | Tran The Anh | VND 188,480,000 |
| 3rd | Nguyen Duc Cuong | VND 122,510,000 |
| 4th | Kunal Patni | VND 101,450,000 |
| 5th | Ngoc Dai Nguyen | VND 81,820,000 |
| 6th | Zhiyi Wang | VND 64,530,000 |
| 7th | Tomohiro Tamano | VND 49,340,000 |
| 8th | Wonhyung An | VND 37,140,000 |
| 9th | Sirisilp Chotvijit | VND 27,720,000 |
Myron Pereira Finishes Runner-up #44: Hyper Turbo Event
Long-time Indian pro Myron Pereira nearly clinched victory in Event #44: Hyper Turbo – Hold’em “Limits” (Limit Pre, PL Flop, NL Post) but eventually lost the title to China’s Zhang Wangcheng and settled for the runner-up prize worth VND 21,850,000. Wangcheng took home VND 32,778,000 for his first-place finish. The top three were paid out, with Singapore’s Zhen Wei Yeo rounding out the podium finishes with VND13,660,000 for the third-place finish.
HYPER TURBO – HOLD’EM “LIMITS” FINAL TABLE RESULTS
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Zhang Wangcheng | VND 32,778,000 |
| 2nd | Myron Paul Anthony Pereira | VND 21,850,000 |
| 3rd | Zhen Wei Yeo | VND 13,660,000 |
Three Indians Shine in #46: Super Hyper Turbo Event
An impressive three Indians made it to the final table in Event#46: Super Hyper Turbo, taking India’s final table tally to 12. The event drew 63 entries and found its winner in Vietnam’s Bui Xuan Truong, who walked away with VND 61,992,800. Thailand’s Sorawit Turaphan placed runner-up for VND 44,660,000. Taking the final spot on the podium was India’s Prajit Ghambir, who banked VND 29,030,000 for his podium finish. The other two Indians to make their mark were Bharti Harsh (VND 21,900,000) who earlier placed fifth for VND 2,47,40,000 in Event #37: Tick Tock BOOM, and Akhand Shukla, who finished 9th, earning VND 6,380,000 for his first cash of the series.
Super Hyper Turbo Full Payouts
| Rank | Player | Prize (VND) | Prize (~USD) |
| 1 | Bui Xuan Truong | 61,992,800 | $2,450 |
| 2 | Sorawit Turaphan | 44,660,000 | $1,765 |
| 3 | Prajit Ghambir | 29,030,000 | $1,147 |
| 4 | Bharti Harsh | 21,900,000 | $866 |
| 5 | Mikkhunthod Nattawat | 17,010,000 | $672 |
| 6 | Tawiyot Chatchavalwong | 13,190,000 | $521 |
| 7 | Peng Chen | 10,420,000 | $412 |
| 8 | Comson Chingtanasan | 8,080,000 | $319 |
| 9 | Shukla Akhand | 6,380,000 | $252 |
Team India has been making its presence felts right from the start of the APT Phu Phu Quoc and has scored two title victories and nine final table finishes. As Indians continue to shine, we can expect some more victories by Indians ahead. Keep following PokerProNews. Follow us on our social media platforms –Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Youtube for all the interesting stories and updates from the world of poker!
Image Courtesy: Asian Poker Tour
