"Rather than just focusing on games," life advice from a 52-year-old foreign man, "Youth, enjoy billiards." [PBA Golden Q on-site interview]

*This content was translated by AI.

"I want you to experience competition and growth through billiards rather than just focusing on video games."

It was called one of the world's four greatest kings of three cushions, and now stands tall at the world championship of professional danggu. He was also the first foreign player to be honored with the PBA Golden Q Awards. Nevertheless, Daniel Sanchez (52, Spain, Welcome Savings Bank), who may be just a foreigner to someone, wanted young people to experience the charm of billiards in person.

Sanchez won the PBA Grand Prize at the 'Hana Card PBA Golden Q Awards 2026' held at Grand Hilton Seoul Vista Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul on the 17th.

Moving from the 2023-2024 season, he struggled in an unfamiliar system. He won the championship once last season, but his consistency was not enough for his reputation.

Sanchez, who has won two championships five times in the final this season, stood out the most with 412,500 points. With the prize money of 324.5 million won, he succeeded 254 bank shots as the PBA prize winner and won the Bank Shot Award and the Special Award given to the player who showed the best sportsmanship in a season by voluntarily paying for mistakes no one noticed in the final.

Sanchez, who went to the press conference for the grand prize, also recalled a long period of adaptation. "When I first came to the PBA, it was unfamiliar to hear music during the game, cheerleading performances, and announcements. Of course, I needed time to adapt to such an environment, he said, but the biggest thing is the team league. The team league had the greatest impact on mental change and growth. I think I made a good result because I came to Welcome Savings Bank and I was mentally stable," he said.

Regarding the special award, he said, "I'm happy to win the Sportsmanship Award. On the one hand, this part should be the most basic in sports. Building friendships through fair play is important. This is also a part that can be passed on to the younger generation, he said. "Other players also volunteered to inform the referee about their fouls first. It's not just limited to me in particular. I think all players should inherit and continue this (fair play) spirit," he said.

He won the grand prize as a foreign player for the first time at the 4th ceremony. Sanchez, who looked back on the season, said, "I'll mention the High1 Resort competition once more. The game was the most difficult and it was a game where I felt a lot of change on my own. It was such a difficult game that there was a match point, but it was the most memorable game because it was able to make many changes, he said. "The moment when I was able to lead such a change on my own was the most memorable satisfactory moment this season."

Not only those who dream of becoming billiard players, but also many active players are idolizing Sanchez. Sanchez said, "I meet a lot of great players in every game, not just in the final. "My favorite thing is to remember when I played with young players and later when the player became a world-class player, I played with Sanchez in the past," he said.

"What I want to tell aspiring billiards players is that billiards is an 'interesting game'. billiards is an event where you can feel a sense of accomplishment while practicing, he said to young people, "I hope you can experience competition and growth through billiards rather than focusing on video games."

<© STARNEWS. All rights reserved. No reproduction or redistribution allowed.>

*This content was translated by AI.