ANKARA - 40-year-old Korean Shin Young Lee captured the world three-cushion title in Ankara in the final against Yuko Nishimoto (49). She took over the title from five-time champion Therese Klompenhouwer. Two routines with reasonable records faced each other in the women's world gold match. Shin Young Lee played superior matches in the score on the final day, where she first beat Dutch Mirjam Pruim 30-15 in 45 and in the final Japanese Nishimoto 30-18 in 26/25 innings. The World Championships in the Turkish capital turned into an Asian final feast after Therese Klompenhouwer ceded her title in what for her reputation was a minor performance against Lee. The outside chance was grabbed with both hands by Lee and Nishimoto, the two players who had plenty of experience at World championships.
Yuko Nishimoto was runner-up once to Therese Klompenhouwer at the World Championships in Sinop, 2014, where Lee was on the podium as number 3. In Halle Zoersel, Belgium, in 2017, Orie Hida became world champion and Lee finished sixth. Last year in the Netherlands, where Therese Klompenhouwer won the gold, Nishimoto was No 3 and Shin Young Lee 12th.
The highest podium finish was now for the Korean, who also won the World Grand Prix in Korea a few weeks ago in the women's tournament, where she beat Klompenhouwer for the first time. She repeated that trick at the World Championship, where Yuko Nishimoto was number two on the podium and Mirjam Plum shared third place with 18-year-old Ha Eun Kim. For the Dutch woman, it was her first top ranking at a World championship, the young Korean was competing for the first time.
Spanish UMB director Fernando Requena awarded the trophies on the final podium where champion Shin Young Lee shed her tears while playing the national anthem.
Therese Klompenhouwer remains the world number one.
Semi-finals
Dutch Mirjam Plum went into the semi-finals with three Asian players and faced Korean Shin Young Lee herself. That match was decided in Lee's favor after a long run-up. The Dutch chances, after the elimination of Therese Klompenhouwer, were reduced to zero, which is an exception for recent years at the Women's World championship.
South Korea's Shin Young Lee (40) showed up as top favorite, although the win against Plum was unimpressive at 30-15 in 45/44 innings. The Dutch still led 3-0 after three innings, but then lost control. It was 3-3 after eight innings, 6-4 for the Korean after 10 innings and 15-5 in 22 after a run of five by Lee. The match again went to the end with difficulty and was decided in Korean favor after 45 innings: 30-15.
Yuko Nishimoto and Ha Eun Kim could captivate the crowd more in their Asian battle with the best start for the Korean after runs of 3 and 5: 13-8 in 10 innings. Still, a long lull followed with too many hiccups until Nishimoto found the inspiration for a final run of 5 at a score of 27-25 behind, which proved decisive for the match: 30-27 in 38.
Averages were remarkably low, like in the men's tournament for the world title. The Zeki billiards are of a new model and sometimes showed a strange running of the balls. It appears that on the night before the start of the men's World championship, the cushions were still changed, but many players complained about the cushions and unaccountable corners.
The podium at the ladies world championship