BLOIS - The target is called Therese Klompenhouwer, the Dutch lady who is making another bid for the world three-cushion title. The young Asian talents are increasingly a threat at the World championship (next week in Blois, France), but Therese wants to extend her reign for years to come. The 41-year-old, five-time world champion, will meet two major rivals from the far east, among others, at the upcoming World championship. Korean Jeonghyun Park (20) and Vietnamese Nguyén Hoàng Yên Nhi (24) are making rapid progress on the global stage and are among the contenders.
What makes these Eastern talents so good at young age compared to the rest of the world?
We spoke to Therese Klompenhouwer's two biggest challengers. They tell the story of the professional culture in South Korea and Vietnam, where training is so starkly contrasted with the European women's culture, where the well-known players are no longer making big steps.
Asians are professional players (no work, no school), they train 8-10 hours a day, are trained in big billiard center by professional trainers. It is not fair to compare that with European women players, who mostly work, have families or go to school and thus hardly get to train. Therese Klompenhouwer, also a professional player, is the big exception and can parry the Asians' attack with her great qualities.
The interview with the two Asian contenders for the Women's World championship, to be played next week from Tuesday 10 to Thursday 12 September.
Jeonghyun Park, from Incheon, 20, professional, no relationship, daughter from a family with one sister. Winner of the Survival last week in Korea in a final with Therese Klompenhouwer and two other Korean players.
’’This will be my first appearance at a World Championship. I may participate in it because I have already won the Korean women's competition five times. My club trains at Isu Optimus billiards in Seoul, my trainer is PBA player Byungho Kim.‘’
’’I practice eight to 10 hours a day, six days a week. The World championship will be my first tournament outside Korea, so I am very much looking forward to it. My expectation is modest, but I have prepared well. I love Therese because she has won so many world championships. She is a great role model for me.‘’
’’I played with Therese in the last Survival, where I met her for the first time. She is a very good player, a real personality. She gives me advice and we joke around. I still have a lot to learn from her.‘’
’’The young players in our country are all training very hard to get that far as well. Most of them practice a whole day. The level is close, we are with a lot of young players.‘’
’’I myself started playing pool billiards when I was 15 years old. I liked watching the ball disappear into the pockets and wanted to progress. That's why I went to the Kim Ga-young Pocketball Academy. At that time, many matches were cancelled by Covid. Then I also started playing three-cushion as a hobby, but when I was 17, three years ago, I switched to three-cushion on the advice of my trainer. From then on, I started training hard. I enjoy my sport, I think I have a bright future ahead of me, there are a lot of opportunities and possibilities, but for now I am mainly enjoying my matches.‘’
’’Good luck to all the players at the World Cup.‘’
Jonghyun Park, winner at the Survival with Therese Klompenhouwers in the final stage
Jeonghyun with the Survival's trophy
Jeonghyun Park, for the first time at the World's for ladies
Nguyèn Hoàng Yên Nhi, from Da Nang City in central Vietnam. ‘’My friends call with Yen Nhi, I am not in a relationship, have a three-year-old daughter, Sunny, and I am a professional billiards player.‘’
’’This will be my third time at a World Championship, the first time was in the Netherlands, the second in Turkey and so now in France. I am allowed to participate because I have been the Vietnamese women's champion for two years.‘’
’’I practice in Da Nang in my team's training hall, my trainer is Dao Van Ly. I usually train for three to eight hours a day. I expect to earn a medal at the World championship, but Ha Eun Kim is also a big contender for Asia.‘’
’’I especially like the way Therese Klompenhouwer plays, I try to play like her, with a lot of power. I know a lot of Asian players, who train a lot. They will be No 1 ranked players in a few years, I expect.‘’
’’In Vietnam, we have a women's championship once in two years. We don't have as many competitions in our country as in the rest of the world, which makes it harder to compete. Still, I do hope that the Vietnamese ladies can start playing a main role in the world of three-cushion.‘’
’’I myself started playing pool billiards when I was 10 years old. Two years later, I switched to three-cushion. I wanted to try something new and fell in love with three-cushion.‘’
’’Thanks for the interview, good luck to everyone.‘’
Nguyen Hoang Yen Nhi, third appearance at the World championship
Nguyen Hoang Yen Nhi, the Vietnamese champion three cushion
Nguyen Hoang Yen Nhi at the championship
The eight groups at the world championship
Group A:
Ha Eun Kim (Korea), Jackeline Perez (Peru), Makiko Inoue (Japan)
Group B
Therese Klompenhouwer (Netherlands), Johana Sandoval (Colombia), Danielle Le Bruyn (Belgium)
Group C:
Gülsen Degener (Turkey), Andrea Cardona (Colombia), Magali Declunder (France)
Group D:
Yuko Nishimoto (Japan), Karina Jetten (Netherlands), Litsa Mavridoglou (Greece)
Group E:
Estela Cardoso (Spain), Helga Mitterböck (Austria), Sonia Livebardon (France)
Group F:
Kien Tuong Phung (Vietnam), Steffi Träm (Germany), aAyaka Miyashita (Japan)
Group G:
Nhi Hoangyen Nguyen (Vietnam), Irena Michalkova (Czech Republic), Claudia Lalinde (Colombia)
Group H:
Charlotte Sörensen (Denmark), Jeong Hyeon Park (Korea), Claudia Cifuentes (Colombia).