JEJU - The two finals in the PBA and LPBA tour ended on a scintillating note. In both men's and women's tournaments, with the Korean tour world title as the reward, the finals ended in very exciting battles. Jae-ho Cho won in the men's against Juan David Zapata 5-4, Ga-young Kim in the women's against Bo-mi Kim 4-3. The men's winner received 200 million Korean won (140.000 euros), the women's winner 70 million (50.000 euros). Jae-ho Cho won the PBA's final gala for the second consecutive year. Juan David Zapata, who was winner in 2021, now became runner-up twice. The Spaniard signed up in this event two times for the perfect cue, the run of 15. He also did it in the final match.
Ga-young Kim held up her second LPBA World Championship trophy in a stunning battle, in which young Bo-mi Kim missed 5 match points in the fifth set. Her victory brings Ga-young Kim level with Sruong Pheavy in LPBA wins: both players won 7 tournaments. Ga-young Kim comes to a total prize money of 341 million Korean won (250,000 euros) over five seasons.
Jae-ho Cho played an average of 1.536 in the final, Juan David Zapata reached 1.493. The Korean scored 26 times with a bank shot and a double count, Zapata did so 18 times. The two finalists were tied for four sets. Jae-ho Cho won the first 15-8, Zapata tied 15-7, Cho took a 2-1 lead by 15-4, Zapata equalized 15-14. The up-and-down score continued until the end. Cho won the fifth 15-11, Zapata the sixth 15-10 and Cho the exhilarating seventh set 15-14, bringing him to 4-3.
Juan David Zapata got the crowd ecstatic with a perfect run of 15 in the eighth set, taking the final at 4-4 to the deciding set. Then, Cho was the big winner with 15 points in four innings, winning 15-6. The little Korean hero prolonged his title that he first won last year.
Jae-ho Cho won in the semi-finals against Eddy Leppens 4-2, Juan David Zapata beat Semih Sayginer 4-0. In the quarter-finals, Zapata eliminated his Spanish friend David Martinez 3-1. Sayginer won against Ki-ho Park 3-2, Leppens was the better of Dong Koong Kang 3-0, Jae-ho Cho beat Sang-pil Eom 3-0.
Ga-young Kim and Bo-mi Kim played a glorious final, in which Bo-mi Kim ran to a 3-1 lead with sets of 11-10, 11-3 and 11-5 after losing the first set 11-9. The battle seemed decided when the youngest of the finalists had five chances to win theatch, but she missed five match points, after which Ga-young Kim seized her chance and won 11-10. In the next two sets too, Ga-young Kim was the player with the strongest nerves. She won those sets 11-2 and 11-3.
Ga-young Kim won in the semi-finals against Ji-eun Han 4-2, Bo-mi Kim beat Mi-rae Lee 4-3.
Jae-ho Cho with his second trophy in two years
The two final players
Jae-ho Cho, two victories in a row at the PBA gala
Ga-young Kim celebrating her victory in the ladies
Jae-ho Cho, Korean star in PBA
Juan David Zapata, two times perfect run in one event, unlucky loss in the final with Jae-ho Cho