SEOUL – We can say that Therese Klompenhouwer almost never loses a tournament in her long career. In the Korean capital Seoul, the UMB world champion was defeated this Saturday night in the World 3 cushion Survival. Two Korean girls outplayed the Dutch in the four-player final. Shin Young Lee (42) was the winner ahead of Bo Mi Choi (19), Therese Klompenhouwer (40) and Jeong Hyun Park (19). This setback for Therese hung in the air throughout the final. The only European participant in the tournament with 9 Koreans was behind from the start, fought to come back, but did not succeed. In the closing stages, the margin hovered around 20 points. Therese still managed to get back to 12 points, but eventually only battled for second place. When she finished with the same points as Bo Mi Choi (19), a shoot-out was needed to decide the number two position. Therese missed the shot from the spots, the Korean did score. ''In the Survival system, you also need some luck, or at least no unluck,'' Therese said afterwards. ’’I couldn't really get into my game, but indeed the opponents were also very strong. Even in the preliminary rounds, I had lost or drawn against two of the three finalists.''
What was already known, was again evident in this Korean women's tournament. The Asian country has dozens of female billiard players who can make things much more difficult for Therese Klompenhouwer than for many years in Europe. There, the Dutch woman is the queen of three-cushion billiards. In South Korea, where the best ladies even play in the PBA (LPBA), many ladies play averages over 1 and are therefore a threat to the world champion. Two of the four finalists in Seoul were even only 19. In the World 3 cushion Survival, the winner averaged 1.200, Choi and Klompenhouwer 1.050, Park 0.900.
The final ranking in the women's event:
- Shin young Lee 52 points
- Bo Mi Choi 40
- Therese Klompenhouwer 40
- Jeong Hyun Park 28.
Shin Young Lee, the 42 year old winner