‘LPBA Qualification → School Withdrawal’ 16-Year-Old Billiards Girl Creates Another Upset, Set to Face ‘5-Time Champion’ Lee Mi-rae... Defeats Baek Min-ju to Advance to First Round of 16 [PBA Tour]

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Lee Seung-hee, the “16-year-old billiards girl” who dropped out of school to pursue her dream of becoming a billiards player, has created another upset. In the LPBA Round of 32, she defeated former champion Baek Min-ju (Crown Hite) to advance to the Round of 16.

Lee Seung-hee advanced to the Round of 16 by defeating Baek Min-ju in a deciding frame in the LPBA Round of 32 match at the “Goyang KINTEX PBA Stadium” in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 7th. This was part of the 4th Tour of the 2026-2027 Professional Billiards Season, the “Crown Hite PBA-LPBA Championship.”

Baek Min-ju took the first set. Baek Min-ju unleashed a high run of 6 points from the very first inning to win 11-6. However, Lee Seung-hee won the second set 11-8 (in 11 innings) to level the match, and then won the third set 11-5 in just 6 innings (in 6 innings), taking a 2-1 lead in sets.

The fourth set turned into a long battle lasting 22 innings, which Baek Min-ju won 11-7, sending the match to a deciding frame. Both players failed to score in their first inning, and Baek Min-ju, who had the first shot in the second inning, also failed to score. Lee Seung-hee, playing second, succeeded in a return attack to secure the final victory.

Lee Seung-hee, born in 2009 and still 16 years old as her birthday has not yet passed, is the youngest player in the LPBA. After picking up a billiards cue for the first time last February, she devoted herself to practice for about a year. She passed the LPBA tryout held last April to become a professional billiards player, and subsequently withdrew from the high school she was attending to focus fully on her career as an athlete.

Lee Seung-hee, who made her mark by reaching the Round of 64 in the 2nd Tour (High1 Resort Championship) this season, has created a storm in this tour by defeating Lee Jae-hyun, Im Jeong-sook (Crown Hite), Kim Jung-mi, and Baek Min-ju in succession from the Q-round to advance to the Round of 16. Lee Seung-hee will clash with “5-time champion” Lee Mi-rae in the Round of 16 match at 3 p.m. on the 8th. Attention is focused on whether Lee Seung-hee, who has been creating a surprise storm, can pull off another upset against Lee Mi-rae.

In addition to Lee Seung-hee, Park Jung-hyun (Harim), the winner of the 3rd Tour (S&W Championship), along with Kim Sang-ah (Harim), Yong Hyeon-ji (Welcome Savings Bank), Han Ji-eun (S&W), Lee Shin-young, and Lee Hwa-yeon, successfully advanced to the Round of 16 in the LPBA Round of 32.

In the PBA Round of 128 held concurrently on the same day, Kim Young-won (Harim) achieved a clean sweep with a 3-0 set score victory over Jo Byung-wook. Daniel Sanchez (Spain, Welcome Savings Bank) also won 3-1 against Ko Jun-seo after close battles in every set to advance to the next round. Choi Seong-won (Huons) defeated Lee Chan-hyung 3-1. On the other hand, Nguyen Thanh Tao (Vietnam), the champion of the previous tour, lost 1-3 to Nam Sang-min and was eliminated.

On the 8th, the fifth day of the tournament, PBA Round of 64 matches will be held starting at 12:30 p.m. LPBA Round of 16 matches will also take place at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original