SEOUL – Korean billiards at the PBA and LPBA welcomed and rewarded its own champions this week. The young super-talent Young-won Kim (18) was the winner in the final of the PBA-named World Championship. He defeated seasoned player, Korean Keon-hwi Cho 4-2. Four Koreans were among the top four; the losers in that round were Im-gwon Kim and Jae guen Kim. The winner in the women's category was Ga-young Kim, the unparalleled Korean champion, who won 18 titles in 7 seasons and has now won the final tournament for the third time in a final against Ji-eun Han. On the weekend that the Belgian Peter Ceulemans and the Dutch Therese Klompenhouwer became the new European champions, the titles at the PBA and LPBA went to two Koreans.
The earnings were much higher at the PBA, the averages with the special scoring system were close together. It is nice to see that the new PBA champion is a remarkable young talent. The winner in the ladies, Ga-young Kim, leads a group of women who exude more quality than at the UMB, the federation that lost many strong female players to the LPBA.
The PBA (men) and the LPBA (women) concluded the season after ten tournaments with the final tours. 32 players from the rankings had qualified for these. Youn-won Kim’s top prize was 200 million Korean won, equivalent to 120,000 euros. Young-won Kim is regarded as a world-class talent. At the age of 15, he entered the PBA via the Challenge Tour; in two years, he won three tournaments. In two seasons, Young-won Kim, whose meteoric career started three years ago, has now earned 314,000 euros. Ga-young Kim, the former pool player, is a multi-earner with her many victories. In her career, she earned the massive sum of 911 million Korean won, equivalent to 610,000 euros.
Yong-won Kim won the final against Keon-hwi Kim with scores of 10-15, 15-10, 15-8, 9-15, 15-13, and 15-2. The eventual champion defeated Jae-guen Kim 4-1 in the semi-final. Keon-hwi Kim reached the final with a 4-3 victory over Im-gwon Kim, who initially took the lead but was defeated by Keon-hwi Kim in the final three sets.
The four Koreans stood on the highest podium. Three Spaniards were eliminated just before the semi-finals. In the round of 8, Keon-hwi Kim defeated David Martinez, Im-gwon Kim bested Juan David Zapata, and Jae-guen Kim was the better of Dani Sánchez. Among the last 16, Murat Naci Coklu, Yusuke Mori, Lütfi Cenet, Eddy Leppens, and Robinson Morales were eliminated. In the first round, Semih Sayginer, Jae-ho Cho, Sung-won Choi, Duc anh Chien, Jun-tae Kim, Min-gu Kang, and Javier Palazon were the early losers and disappeared from the tournament.
Ga-young Kim, the LPBA super champion, proved stronger in the final against Ji-eun Kim, a young former UMB player. Ga-young Kim defeated her opponent 4-1. She had an average of 1.559 and a highest break of 7. In the semi-final, Ga-young Kim won against a former champion, Se-yeon Kim, 4-3. Ji-eun Kim won that semi-final against Woo-kyung Lee 4-2. Another strong player, Jung-suk Lim, lost to Se-yeon Kim 3-2 in the round of 8, while Ga-young Kim eliminated Yu-Ram Cha 3-0 in that round. In one of the previous rounds, Shin-young Lee, the UMB world champion three years ago, was the better of Sruong Pheavy.
The day after the finals, the Golden Awards were presented in 19 categories at the Walkershil Grand Hotel in Gwanjin-gu, Seoul. Dani Sánchez and Ga-young Kim won the most prizes, including the Bankshot Award, the Best Average Award, and the Sportsmanship Award.
The ladies winner and the men's winner; Ga-young Kim and Young-won Kim
Ga-young Kim, the multi winner, again the world's best in LPBA
Young-won Kim, the wonder boy at 18 years
Ji-eun Kim, de runner-u at the ladies
The award winners Dani Sánchez and Ga-young Kim