'First Woman to Challenge 1 Billion Won': Kim Ga-young Faces Sole Rival Srong Pia, Setting Up the Ultimate Finals Match at 10:30 PM [PBA]

*This content was translated by AI.

Kim Ga-young (43, Hana Card) becomes the first female player to challenge a cumulative prize money of 1 billion won. To stop her, Srong Pia (36, Woori Financial Capital), who holds a better head-to-head record, steps forward.

On the 9th, Kim Ga-young defeated Lee Mi-rae (High1 Resort) with a set score of 3-1 (7-11, 11-3, 11-7, 11-3) in the LPBA semifinals of the 2026-2027 season 2nd Tour "National Happiness Rest High1 Resort PBA-LPBA Championship" held at the Grand Hotel Convention Tower in High1 Resort, Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do, advancing to the finals.

Kim Ga-young lost the first set 7-11 (8 innings) to Lee Mi-rae, but in the second set, she scored a high run of 10 points in the 2nd inning to win 11-3 (5 innings), tying the match. In the third set, with the score tied 3-3, Kim Ga-young hit a 6-point long ball in the 5th inning to pull ahead 9-3. Although Lee Mi-rae fought hard, Kim Ga-young scored one point each in the 6th and 8th innings to win 11-7 (8 innings), taking the lead. In the fourth set, Kim Ga-young, leading 3-2 in the 6th inning, scored 2-2-4 in consecutive innings to finish the match 11-3 (8 innings).

Kim Ga-young aims for the first-ever 20-win golden monument in professional billiards and challenges a cumulative prize money of 1 billion won. With a current cumulative prize money of 961.3 million won, a victory today would add the 40th million won championship prize, pushing her total over 1 billion won.

Including the men's division, only David Martinez (Crown Haitai, 1.0405 billion won) has achieved a cumulative prize money of 1 billion won. If Kim Ga-young wins the championship, she will surpass Jo Jae-ho (NH Nonghyup Card, 982.5 million won) to take second place.

However, the final step is not expected to be easy, as her opponent is Srong, who leads the head-to-head record 7 wins to 5 losses against Kim Ga-young.

Srong defeated Kwon Bal-hae (SW) 3-1 (11-7, 11-10, 10:-1, 11-7) to secure a ticket to the finals.

Srong took the first set 11-7 (8 innings) to gain the upper hand. In the second set, trailing 4-9, Srong scored a high run of 6 points in the 7th inning to reverse the score to 10-9. Kwon Bal-hae scored one point in the 9th inning to tie the game 10-10, but Srong closed out the remaining point in the 11th inning to win 11-10 (11 innings), achieving a set score of 2-0. In the third set, Kwon Bal-hae won 11-10 (9 innings) to regain one set, but Srong won the fourth set 11-7 (15 innings), securing a 3-1 set score and advancing to the finals.

Kim Ga-young and Srong will meet again for the first time in 275 days (9 months and 2 days) since the finals of the 2025-2026 season 4th Tour (SY Veriteome Championship) on September 7, 2025. At that time, Kim Ga-young defeated Srong with a set score of 4-2 to lift her 16th career championship trophy.

Despite this, Srong leads the overall head-to-head record 7 wins to 5 losses in 12 meetings. However, in the last five encounters, Kim Ga-young holds the advantage with 4 wins and 1 loss. The head-to-head record in finals matches is tied at 2 wins each.

Srong will challenge to become the second LPBA player to break 10 wins. Additionally, with a cumulative prize money of 383.42 million won, if Srong wins this tournament, she will become the second LPBA player, after Kim Ga-young, to surpass a cumulative prize money of 400 million won.

The finals between Kim Ga-young and Srong will be played in a best-of-seven format starting at 10:30 PM on the 10th. The championship prize is 0.4 billion won.

In the men's division, Kim Young-won (Haram) defeated the "Belgian powerhouse" Eddie Leffens (High1 Resort) with a set score of 3-1 (4-15, 15-4, 15-12, 15-13) to advance to the quarterfinals.

Leffens took the first set 15-4 in just 3 innings to gain the upper hand, but Kim Young-won countered with a 15-4 (6 innings) win in the second set, tying the match. Kim Young-won won the third set 15-12 (11 innings) and then the fourth set in a close match 15-13 (10 innings), securing a 3-1 set victory.

Kim Young-won, who became the "youngest world champion" last season, was eliminated in the Round of 32 of the season opener (Woori Financial Capital Championship) after losing to Kim Jae-geun (Crown Haitai). Showing a changed appearance in the season's second match, Kim Young-won advanced to the quarterfinals and will face Eom Sang-pil (Woori Financial Capital).

Eom Sang-pil successfully defeated Jo Jae-ho (NH Nonghyup Card) 3-1 in the Round of 16. Eom Sang-pil won both the first and second sets 15-12, quickly building a 2-0 set lead. Jo Jae-ho won the third set 15-5 (4 innings) to regain one set, but Eom Sang-pil closed out the match 15-11 (8 innings) in the fourth set. The quarterfinal match between Kim Young-won and Eom Sang-pil will take place at 5:30 PM on the 10th.

'Machinegun' Kang Min-gu (Woori Financial Capital) defeated 'defending champion' Daniel Sanchez (Spain, Welcome Savings Bank) with a set score of 3-2. In the final fifth set of a close match, Kang Min-gu hit a 5-point long ball while leading 5-3 in the 3rd inning, driving a nail into the coffin of victory, and closed out the remaining point in the 4th inning for the final win. Kang Min-gu will face Ngo Dinh Nai (Vietnam, Hyoone), the only remaining foreign player in this tournament, in the first quarterfinal match at 12:30 PM on the 10th.

Kim Jun-tae (Haram) and Shin Jeong-ju (Hana Card) also successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. Kim Jun-tae defeated Kim Hong-min, who sparked a '20-something storm', with a set score of 3-0, while Shin Jeong-ju turned back 'Spanish powerhouse' David Zapata (Woori Financial Capital) 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals. Shin Jeong-ju will face Park Dong-jun in a quarterfinal match at 3 PM on the 10th, and Kim Jun-tae will clash with '3-cushion bible' Lee Chung-bok (High1 Resort) at 7 PM to compete for a spot in the semifinals.

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*This content was translated by AI.