“Billiards festival in the snow”… ‘High1 Resort PBA-LPBA Championship’ begins on the 22nd < PBA < Professional billiards < Text of article

The 7th professional billiards PBA season tour will be held at High1 Resort in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do on the 22nd.

The Professional Billiards Association (PBA, President Kim Young-soo) announced that it will hold the ‘High1 Resort PBA-LPBA Championship 2023’ at the Convention Tower Convention Hall of the High1 Grand Hotel in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do for 9 days from the 22nd to the 30th.

High1 Resort, which served as the title sponsor of the PBA for the second time with this tournament, is a complex resort brand located on the top of Baekun Mountain (1,376m above sea level) in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do and operating a ski resort, hotel/condo, golf course, and water world. High1, which means ‘the first’ and ‘the highest peak’, has established itself as Korea’s representative cultural, tourism and leisure resort where you can enjoy sports, entertainment, culture, and life at the same time.

High1 Resort, which participated as the title sponsor of the PBA Tour last season, joined the ‘PBA Team League’ this season, including team leader ‘3-cushion textbook’ Lee Chung-bok, ‘rookie’ Lim Seong-gyun, and ‘Vietnamese duo’ Nguyen Duc Ain Trien and Nguyen. They are playing their first season by recruiting stars such as Phuong Linh, ‘Turkye powerhouse’ Rutpi Chenet, and ‘LPBA duo’ Lee Mi-rae and Yong Hyeon-ji.

This tournament, held as a PBA-LPBA integrated tournament, will start with the women’s PPQ (1st Qualifying) round on the 22nd, followed by the PQ (2nd Qualifying) round and the round of 64 on the 23rd. Afterwards, the competition will begin in earnest, including the PBA Round of 128, starting with the opening ceremony at 11:30 am on the 24th. The LPBA finals will be held at 9:30 pm on the 29th, and the PBA finals, with a prize of 100 million won, will be held the next day at 9:30 pm on the 30th.

The point to watch this time is whether Lee Chung-bok will win his first professional victory. Lee Chung-bok, who entered the professional ranks with priority registration this season, has not achieved his first win in his last six tours. Attention is focused on whether Lee Chung-bok will be able to achieve victory in the competition in which his team participates as the title sponsor. However, the opponent is not easy. This is Eddie Refens (SK Rent-a-Car), a ‘Belgian powerhouse’ and former PBA champ. Lee Chung-bok will play at the opening ceremony of the competition at 12 noon on the 24th.

In addition, Choi Won-jun, who returned to the top after 4 years in the previous tour, jumped to 5th place in the season and will play his first match against Mo Bong-oh, who is participating as a wild card. In addition, ‘No. 1 in the season ranking’ Javier Palazon (Spain, Huons) will play against Song Jong-beom and second-place David Martinez (Spain, Crown Haitai) Won Ho-su.

In the women’s division, Choi Hye-mi (Welcome Savings Bank), winner of the previous tour, jumped to 5th place in the season, received a seed in the round of 64, and will participate from the round of 64. In the PPQ round held on the 22nd, ‘special rookie’ Kwon Bal-hae and ‘3-cushion World Championship winner’ Lee Shin-young will face off in the first round (1:30 p.m.).

Ji-eun Han (SY), Ga-yeon Jang (Huons), Han-sol Seo (Blue One Resort), etc. won by default and will join from the PQ round held the following day, while players in the top 32 of the recent 10 tours, including Ga-young Kim (Hana Card) and Mina Kim (NH Nonghyup Card), will join the team from the next day’s PQ round. The first match of the tournament begins in the round of 64.

(Photo = Provided by PBA)