PBA, the professional billiards league, stands tall as a representative of Korean sports with its 'Korea Brand Awards' win... "The fact that Korea has become the center of billiards has been the driving force behind this award"

*This content was translated by AI.

The professional billiards league PBA has won the Korea Brand Award for the first time in a sports category.

The Professional Billiards Association (PBA) received the Grand Prize in the sports category at the '2026 Korea Brand Awards, ESG Management Awards, and Asia Brand Awards' ceremony held on the 22nd at the Olympic Parktel in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

The Korea Brand Awards, hosted by the Korea Brand Association, is an event that selects and honors brands that were most loved by consumers over the past year among major domestic companies, including public corporations, public institutional investors, large corporations, and SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). The winners are determined through document review, supplementary materials, and on-site evaluations, ultimately selecting one 1Wi Reul (수상) (위를 수상) grand prize winner in each category.

Entering its 8th season, PBA was established in 2019 and was recognized for transforming billiards into a new form, providing high-level game content, and elevating billiards to a true sports category. Additionally, it was acknowledged for creating the profession of professional billiards players, adopting domestic billiard balls and tables as official game equipment, and contributing to the development of the billiards industry, thereby establishing itself as a pillar of the new sports industry.

Jang Sang-jin, PBA Vice President, who accepted the award on behalf of President Yoon Young-dal, stated immediately after receiving the award, "PBA started with the question, 'What sport can truly make Korea the center?' He added, "The belief and confidence that Korea could become the center of billiards created today's PBA and became the driving force behind receiving this award. We are grateful to everyone."

Jung Soobin, who attended the ceremony, said, "It is an honor to stand on the award stage as a professional billiards player. Going forward, as a player, I will do my best to help PBA grow into a sports brand loved by more people."

In addition, at the ceremony, seven companies including PBA, Brown FNC (franchise), Hyurim Robot (K-robot), YIO (K-beauty), and Cosmo Plus (Cosmetic R&D innovation) received the Brand Grand Prize. In the sports category, along with PBA, the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation received the Public ESG Management Award.

Meanwhile, PBA began its journey by winning the Grand Prize (Prime Minister's Award) at the '18th Korea Sports Industry Awards' hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in 2022. In January this year, LPBA's Kim Ga-young (Hana Card) became the first non-Olympic sport athlete to receive the Grand Prize, the highest honor, at the 'Yungok Women's Sports Awards.' With this brand award, PBA has now achieved another milestone.

Having completed tryouts and cue school preparations for the next season (2026-2027), PBA is set to continue preparations for the season kickoff through the PBA Team League Draft on the 6th of next month.

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*This content was translated by AI.