SEOUL - The most lucrative cash prize to win in three cushion billiards went to Choong-Bok Lee. The 43-year-old Korean received the trophy and the 60.000 euros (70 million Korean won) as the winner of the LGU + Masters Cup. The tournament, which was played in the Korean capital Seoul, came to the final day with four Asian players and a highly exciting, but rarely high class performance. Korean Choong-Bok Lee defeated the extremely nervous Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran in the final with 40-35 in 36 innings.
The world's top guns, outplayed in the preliminary stages, watched from the stands how two players from the second echelon competed for the big money. Quyet Chien Tran, the 32-year-old ace in the preliminaries, could win about a double year salary, but the tension in the final was too much for him. Choong-Bok Lee, who also played far below his normal level, showed to be the best in the ultimate part of the final.
The stress and the immense pressure, to play for such a huge prize, caused an anti-climax on the final day. The four players felt the huge tension that can have a fatal effect in a delicate sport like billiards. The tiny, amiable Tran was the best example. The Vietnamese saw his shining form suddenly disappear in the final. With eyes of disbelief he reacted to the unbelievable mistakes when his playing arm failed.
Choong-Bok Lee tried to free himself from the stress and launched the match with a 14 to build up a 20-7 lead after 7 innings, but in the second match half he lost his way completely. The scoreboard showed 30-26 after fourteen innings for Lee and 34-31 fourteen innings later.
The five that Lee scored in the 29th inning led him to one carom from the finish line (39-32), but even in that position he needed seven innings for the winning point. And Tran, poor Tran, staggered to the table at 40-33 for the equalizing inning: he missed after two points.
The final players during the ceremony
The tournament will go into history as the Asian/European clash in which three world class players, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Frédéric Caudron and Dani Sánchez, were eliminated in the preliminary rounds. The four remaining Asians (Choong-Bok Lee, Quyet Chien Tran, Jin-Pyo Hong and Hyung-Kon Kim) continued to the K.O. stage and showed how wide the world top of three cushion has become.
The final standings:
1 Choong Bok Lee, 70.000.000 Korean won, 59.0000 euros
2 Quyet Chien Tran, 30.000.000 Korean won, 24.000 euros
3 Jin-Pyo Hong, 10.000.000 Korean won, 8400 euros
4 Hyung-Kon Kim, 10.000.000 Korean won, 8400 euros.
Choong-Bok Lee, celebrating the most glorious day in his career
The winner, cheered by the audience after his win
Quyet Chien Tran, not a shadow of the player he was in the preliminaries
Semifinal: Quyet ChienTran-Hyung-Kon Kim
The famous attack of the Vietnamese Tran, over three days best player in the tournament, came after eight innings with a 12-12 on the score board. The run of twelve gave him a comfortable 24-12 lead. And because the 35-year-old Kim was dying a thousand deaths, the decision was close. The Korean produced seven misses in a row and was spared by Tran, who also suffered a setback in the match. The knockout came with a run of eight in the 21th, followed by the last two one inning later, resulting in 40-24 in 22 innings.
Semifinal: Choong-Bok Lee-Jin-Pyo Hong
Even more than in the first semi-final, the stress was tangible throughout the entire match. Jin-Pyo Hong, with his 30 years the youngest in the group of finalists, still had a smooth start and was leading 22-9 in 12 innings. But then the scoring of both players stagnated. The fantastic Lee in the first match, when he excelled against Blomdahl, suddenly looked like a rookie and could only some feel during a brief attack in the 30th inning. The mistakes in the final stage were almost hilarious. Jin-Pyo Hong, the proud winner in the group with the renowned Koreans Jae Ho Cho, Dong Koong Kang and Sung-Won Choi, couldn't hit the balls anymore in the decisive stage. The score was 37-37 in 37 innings, Lee finally made an end to the trench war match and scored the 40-37. Hong with no more focus, also missed the equalizer.
Dong-Koong Kang (middle) watching the final match from the stands
The overview of the venue during the final match
All the players during the ceremony with the four finalists in the front
The referee for the final match