SEOUL – The prize money in women's billiards at the PBA in Korea has been increased, but the champion remains the same player as in many previous events. Ga-young Kim simply won this final against Min-a Kim 4-2 once again, pocketed the 50 million Korean won, and became the winner of an LPBA event for the 19th time in her illustrious record hunt. Her opponent, Min-a Kim, has a more modest track record, but with 4 victories, she is no stranger in the field. However, Ga-young Kim proves to be almost unassailable in every tournament. While other well-known names from the circuit like Sruong Pheavy, Se-yeon Kim, Orie Hida stumbled in the preliminary stages again, Ga-young Kim won all her matches once again.
In the final, Min-a Kim took a 2-0 lead in sets (5-11 and 9-11), but after that, Ga-young Kim's machine ran at full speed again. She won 11-5, 11-9, 11-7, and 11-9 and accepted the trophy amidst cheering fans.
In the men's tournament, Jae Ho Cho, a former top player with the UMB and winner of a few PBA tournaments, is in a final once again. The Korean has been out of form for a while but has now managed to reach the final. There, Cho plays against another Cho: Keon-hwi Cho, who eliminated Semih Sayginer, among others, in the quarter-finals.
In the semi-finals, Jae-Ho Cho eliminated Spaniard Juan David Zapata 3-0 (15-12, 15-11, 15-12), after the Korean finalist had also knocked Spanish top player David Martinez out of the tournament in the previous round. Keon-hwi Cho, the other finalist, eliminated Vietnamese player Phuong-linh Nguyen in the semi-finals 4-3, after winning 11-8 in the deciding fifth set. Nguyen defeated Jun-tae Kim, who switched from the UMB two years ago, 3-1 in the quarter-finals. Juan David Zapata defeated Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 3-2 in that quarter-final. Sung-won Choi, Dong Koong Kang, and Murat Naci Coklu were eliminated in the round of 16. Dani Sánchez and Eddy Leppens were eliminated from the tournament in the first round of 128 players.