'Shock': Last season's Grand Prize winner Daniel Sanchez, a world-class player, suffers a shutout defeat to the 'unknown' Lim Dong-eun in the 128th-round elimination... Kim Young-won, Choi Sung-won, and Kim Jun-tae advance to the 64th rounds [PBA Tour]

*This content was translated by AI.

(Last season's PBA Grand Prize winner) Daniel Sanchez (Spain·Welcome Savings Bank) suffered an unexpected blow in the PBA 128-rounds. He was caught off guard by the relatively unknown rising star Lim Dong-eun (22), a name unfamiliar even to billiards fans.

On the 29th, at the 'Goyang KINTEX PBA Stadium' in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Sanchez suffered a complete defeat against Lim Dong-eun with a set score of 0-3 (11-15, 7-15, 12-15) during the second day of the PBA 128-rounds at the 'Eco-friendly Building Materials SW PBA-LPBA Championship,' the third tour of the 2026-27 professional billiards season.

Sanchez was struck by a blow from Lim Dong-eun, who entered the tournament via wildcard. In the early stages of the first set, Sanchez took an 8-3 lead and gained momentum, but Lim Dong-eun scored six consecutive points in the fifth inning to turn the tide at 9-8. Amidst a back-and-forth battle, Lim Dong-eun, trailing 11-13, scored four points in the eighth inning to win the first set 15-11.

A similar pattern unfolded in the second set: Sanchez took the lead before Lim Dong-eun turned it around. With Sanchez leading 5-2, Lim Dong-eun scored three consecutive points in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to take a 12-5 lead. Although Sanchez added one point each in the seventh and eighth innings to close the gap to 7-12, Lim Dong-eun secured the remaining three points in the ninth inning to win 15-7, establishing a 2-0 set score. Even though Sanchez led 12-7 in the third set, Lim Dong-eun scored eight points, including three bank shots, in the tenth inning to end the match 15-12 (in the tenth inning).

Although Sanchez won the PBA Grand Prize last season with two titles and three runner-up finishes, he has struggled somewhat this season. In the opening match of this season's Our Financial Capital Championship 128-rounds, Sanchez was defeated by 'billiards influencer' Hacker with a set score of 0-3 and eliminated. He advanced to the round of 16 in the second tour (High1 Resort Championship), but suffered another early exit in this tour, losing in his first match.

Second tour winner Kim Young-won (Harim) secured a complete victory against Kim Dong-moon with a set score of 3-0. Choi Sung-won (Hyoons) also comfortably completed a 3-0 win against Jang Byeong-dae, while Kim Jun-tae (Harim) defeated Kim Jeong-ho 3-1.

In the LPBA round of 32 held alongside the PBA matches that day, Kang Ji-eun (High1 Resort) completely defeated Choi Jimin (Hyoons) with a set score of 3-0. Kim Se-yeon and Kim Ye-eun (both Hyoons) defeated Yoon Kyung-nam and Kim Jin-a (Hana Card) after a tiebreaker. Jo Ye-eun, who had previously defeated Srong Piyabi (Cambodia) in the round of 64, beat Jeon Ji-yeon in the round of 32 to successfully advance to her career-first round of 16.

On the fifth day of the tournament, the 30th, the PBA round of 64 and LPBA round of 16 will take place. The PBA round of 64 will be held in five turns starting at 1 p.m., while the LPBA round of 16 will be held concurrently at 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

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*This content was translated by AI.