SEOUL - The last two Spanish players have been eliminated on their way to the semi-finals in the fourth PBA event this season. The finals look set to be a Korean festival with Jae ho Cho the most famous player still in contention. Antonio Montes, getting far for the first time after his PBA start this year, was eliminated by Tae-jun Oh 3-2, Javier Palazon lost to Hyun-woo Kim 3-1.
Antonio Montes eliminated this PBA event's hero, Korean Wook Kim 3-2 in the previous round. This Korean debutant, who recently joined the ranks of the PBA, was the sensation of the first rounds, in which he eliminated Frédéric Caudron by penalties (1-0) and in the next round eliminated Filippos Kasidokostas 3-1. In the first round of the tournament, Eddy Leppens also disappeared from the stage in a game against Ki-woong Shin, which the Belgian lost by penalties (2-4).
The top two Spaniards, David Martinez and David Zapata, were eliminated in the round with the top 16. Martinez lost to Palazon 3-0 (1,800/1,522), David Zapata to Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma 3-1 (2,636/1,333). Vietnamese Ma is the only non-Korean in the semi-finals. Carlos Anguita also played an excellent tournament, but did not make it to the top 16. The Turks, of whom Birol Uymaz, one of the previous winners, are also eliminated.
In the ladies, the final goes between two players who have never won a PBA tournament: former UMB world champion in 2012 in Tokyo, Natsumi Higashiuchi from Japan, and Korean Min Joo Baek. In the semi-finals, Higashiuchi won against Bo-mi Kim 3-2 after trailing 2-0 (averages 0.878/0.857), Min Jo Baek beat the much-won Ga-young Kim 3-0. The top favorite, Sruong Pheavy, was eliminated by Min-joo Baek 3-2.
Natsumi Higashiuchi
Javier Palazon