SEOUL – 29-year-old Korean Mi-rae Lee is back after a four-year PBA victory. She won the final at the High Resort tournament against Woo-kyung Lee, who is one year younger, 4-3 with an average of 1.057. Mi-rae Lee won four tournaments in the early years of the LPBA, unsuccessfully chasing new glory, and was finally able to celebrate her fifth triumph. That brought the player much joy and emotion. The winner’s prize is around 30,000 euros. Mi-rae Lee once made a name for herself in the UMB and, at the ages of 18 and 19, twice finished second at the World Championships behind Orie Hida in Halle-Zoersel and Therese Klompenhouwer in Guri. Orie Hida also moved to the PBA a few years ago but hasn’t won yet a tournament in PBA.
Mi-rea Lee has enjoyed more success on the PBA circuit, where Ga-young Kim and Sruong Pheavy are the multiple winners. These couldn’t play a leading role this time around. Ga-young Kim was eliminated in the round of 32, as were Orie Hida and Jieun Han, among others. Mi-rae Lee won the final 4-3 in sets with the scores 11-9, 3-11, 3-11, 11-4, 8-11, 11-1, and 9-3. In the semifinals, Mi-rae Lee defeated Bo-mi Kim 3-0, and Woo-kyung Lee defeated another multiple winner, Jung-suk Lim, 3-2.
In her championship speech, Mi-rae Lee expressed her deep gratitude to the LPBA, as this Korean professional organization has allowed her to make billiards a proud profession. "I can now lead a stable, professional life."
The men's final between Dani Sánchez and Minh Cam Ma will be played at 9:00 PM today, Tuesday. That is 1:00 PM Western European time. Sánchez also reached the final in the previous tournament, losing to 18-year-old Young-won Kim 4-3.
The Spaniard defeated Sang-young Lee 3-2 in the semifinal, while Minh Cam Ma defeated Seung-jin Lee 4-2. Most of the top favorites were eliminated in the early rounds: Semih Sayginer, Burak Hashas, and Eddy Leppens in the first round with 128 players, Jun-tae Kim and Robinson Morales one round later, and Juan David Martinez, Dinh Nai Ngo, and Duc Anh Chien in the round of 32.
