"Thinking of my daughter who will be born tomorrow..." Expectant father Jung Chan-kook conquers the emotional Dream Tour [PBA]

*This content was translated by AI.

Expectant father Jung Chan-kook (43) experienced the thrill of reaching the summit of the second leg of the Professional Billiards Dream Tour (Division 2) season.

On June 30, Jung Chan-kook defeated Jo Hwa-woo with a set score of 3-2 (6-15, 15-12, 15-2, 3-15, 11-0) in the finals of the '2026-2027 PBA Dream Tour 2nd Leg' held at 'Goyang KINTEX PBA Stadium' in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, to claim the championship.

With the championship prize of 10 million won and 10,000 ranking points added, Jung Chan-kook immediately surged from a joint 65th place (100 points) to the sole 1st place (10,100 points) in the season rankings.

The early stages of the match were closely contested. Jo Hwa-woo took an early lead by winning the first set 15-6 in just three innings, but Jung Chan-kook held off Jo's comeback in the second set, winning 15-12 (in seven innings) to level the set score at 1-1.

In the third set, Jung Chan-kook secured a decisive victory 15-2 (in six innings), leaving just one set to go for the championship. However, Jo Hwa-woo fought back in the fourth set with a 15-3 win (in six innings), forcing the match into a deciding fifth set. In the fifth set, Jo managed no points, while Jung Chan-kook steadily accumulated points without faltering, winning 11-0 (in five innings) to secure the title.

Jung Chan-kook debuted on the PBA stage through the 2019-2020 season Tryout but managed only two victories across nine tours last season. He also failed to retain his position in the Division 1 promotion/relegation Q School, resulting in his demotion to the Dream Tour for this season. However, by winning the second leg, he has moved closer to promotion back to the Division 1 tour.

Jung Chan-kook shared, "My wife became pregnant last October, and she is expected to give birth early tomorrow morning. I need to head straight to Busan." He added, "Even if I were eliminated from the tournament, I thought I could just go see my daughter as soon as she was born, which actually helped me stay relaxed and play well, resulting in a good outcome."

He continued, "Even though my wife is heavily pregnant, I felt deeply moved seeing her leave early every morning to run the billiard hall. Despite that, I am grateful that she supported me so I could focus solely on my athletic career. I was able to win thanks to my wife and the baby on the way. I also want to make sure to express my gratitude to my parents who have supported me in every possible way."

Having completed the second leg of the Dream Tour, the PBA will hold the 'Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League 2026-2027 Gwangmyeong City Tour' at Gwangmyeong Citizens Gymnasium in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, on the 5th of next month. Prior to that, a media day will be held at the Seoul Club Hall of the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 3rd of next month.

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*This content was translated by AI.