SEOUL - The untouchable Frédéric Caudron demonstrated his supremacy in the PBA once again with a victory in the NH Nonghyup event. The Belgian clash in the final against Eddy Leppens was won 4-1 by Caudron. Winning this event, Caudron recorded his seventh victory in a PBA tournament with the PBA world title at the end of last season as the highlight. The all-Belgian final was preceded by the semi-finals featuring Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma and Korean Jung-gun Park, a former chicken restaurant owner. The women's tournament was won by Ga-young Kim, who won her fifth tournament in eight finals.
Frédéric Caudron's performance peaked in the quarter-finals, where he beat Greek Filippos Kasidokostas in the best match so far in the PBA cycle. Caudron won that match 3-0, 45 points in 7 innings, 6.429 average, including double points for bank shots. With the win bonus of 73,000 euros, Caudron brought his total in three PBA years in prize money only to 650,000 euros (apart of his contracts). That puts him ahead of David Zapata of Spain with 470,000.
The final was a one-man show, where Eddy Leppens could only play a second fiddle. Caudron won the first set 15-0 in 3 innings, the second 15-11 in 5, the third 15-12 in 5, Leppens won the fourth set 15-4 in 12 and Caudron finally the fifth set 15-7 in 7 innings. The averages: 2,000/1,500, highest runs, Caudron 11, Leppens 7.
The eight Spanish PBA players could not shine this time. Seven of eight lost already in the first round with 128 players, only David Zapata advanced two rounds. Turks Can Capak and Savas Bulut (against Kasidokostas) and Greek Kostas Papakonstantinou were also eliminated in the first round.
Among the ladies, Sruong Pheavy was eliminated remarkably early in the first rounds, the same as Mi-rae Lee, one of the best Korean ladies in the LPBA cycle. Four-time UMB world champion Orie Hida lost in the last 16. Ga-young Kim was the best in the final, the runner-up was 24-year-old Ye-eun Kim.
The next PBA tournament starts Sunday 8 January and runs until 14 January.
Frédéric Caudron after the match with Eddy Leppens crowned the winner
Frédëric Caudron with his wife, also a player in the PBA