"Sister, do your best." Was she inspired? Kim Bo-mi makes dramatic quarterfinal run... Meanwhile, champion Jung Soobin suffers 'win-win-loss-loss-loss' and eliminated in Round of 16 [PBA Tour]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

"Sister, do your best."

This was a remark thrown by Jung Soobin (27), who achieved her first career title on the 11th, toward her team colleague Kim Bo-mi (28, NH Nonghyup Card) during her post-match victory comments. It was an encouraging word for her close senior sister, who is always a title contender but has remained without a championship. This time, their fortunes diverged.

Jung Soobin lost to Im Jeong-sook (Crown Hite) with a set score of 2-3 (11-7, 11-4, 0-11, 7-11, 8-9) in the LPBA Round of 16 at the "How to Live Well zgm NH Nonghyup Card PBA-LPBA Championship," the fifth tour of the 2026-2027 Pro Billiards season, held on the 22nd at the Goyang KINTEX PBA Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.

Jung Soobin won her first career title at the previous tournament. Riding that momentum, she advanced smoothly in this tournament as well. In her Round of 64 match against Kim Do-kyung, she dominated with an average of 2.083.

However, she could not exert her full strength against Im Jeong-sook, a five-time champion. The start was good. She won the first set 11-7 and the second set 11-4, raising the possibility of advancing to the quarterfinals.

The momentum shifted from the third set. Im Jeong-sook attacked fiercely to take the third and fourth sets, and led 8-4 in the fifth set. Jung Soobin raised her concentration late in the game to tie it at 8-8, but after her final shot narrowly missed, Im Jeong-sook ended the match through a sudden-death round.

On the other hand, Kim Bo-mi, who had received affectionate criticism from Jung Soobin, faced former champion Kang Ji-eun (High1 Resort) and won 3-2 (11-4, 3-11, 11-0, 8-11, 9-2) in a close five-set match to advance to the quarterfinals.

Kim Bo-mi, ranked ninth on the all-time LPBA prize money list, is one of only two players among the top 15 without a title, alongside Han Ji-eun (S&Y, 14th). It is difficult to compare her with Han Ji-eun, who joined later, given that Kim has been consistently active since the first year of the pro league.

She has done everything except win a championship. She has finished as runner-up three times and reached the semifinals 15 times. That is why this season was even more disappointing. She advanced to the quarterfinals in the opening tournament, but subsequently stopped at the Round of 64, Round of 128, and Round of 64.

Given that context, this quarterfinal run carries significant meaning. She has met an opponent she must definitely overcome to achieve her first title. In the quarterfinals, she will face "Queen" Kim Ga-young (Hana Card), who is challenging for the first 20th championship in pro billiards history. The match begins at 3:30 p.m. on the same day.

In addition to Kim Bo-mi, Im Jeong-sook, Park Jeong-hyeon (Harim), Lee Mi-rae (High1 Resort), Kang Yu-jin, Lee Sun-young, and Lee Ma-ri have secured their spots in the quarterfinals. The match between Lee Mi-rae and Park Jeong-hyeon, which will take place at the same time, also draws attention. Im Jeong-sook vs. Lee Ma-ri, and Lee Sun-young vs. Lee Ma-ri will clash at 8:30 p.m. on the same day.

In the men's Round of 64, upsets occurred in succession. Cho Jae-ho (NH Nonghyup Card) lost to Kim Nam-soo with a set score of 1-3, and Daniel Sanchez (Spain, Welcome Savings Bank) also suffered a shutout loss to Antonio Montes (Spain, Breakers).

Cho Jae-ho, who had narrowly won in the Round of 128, struggled against Kim Nam-soo on this day. Cho lost the first set 7-15 (8 innings), but took the second set 15-6 (6 innings) to reset the match. However, in the third set, Kim Nam-soo reached 15 points in just 4 innings to win 15-9. In the fourth set, he recorded a high run of 8 points in the 5th inning to win decisively 15-4 (6 innings), overtaking Cho Jae-ho to secure a Round of 32 ticket.

Sanchez lost to his junior compatriot Montes. After taking the first set 15-5 (6 innings) to seize the initiative, Montes also won the second set decisively 15-3 (7 innings). In the third set, from a tied situation of 8-8, Sanchez managed only two additional points, while Montes scored five points in the 7th inning to extend the lead to 13-8. He then filled the remaining two points in the 9th inning to finish the match 15-10 (9 innings). While Sanchez showed somewhat low form with an average of 0.900 on this day, Montes swung fiercely with an average of 2.045.

"The Fighter" Choi Sung-won (Huons) and "the next generation of three-cushion billiards" Kim Jun-tae (Harim) each lost narrowly in sudden-death rounds to Oh Tae-jun (NH Nonghyup Card) and Ton Viet Hoang Minh (Vietnam), respectively. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam, Hana Card), the winner of the fourth tour, also lost to "young rookie" Kim Gwan-woo with a set score of 1-3.

On the other hand, "Hulk" Kang Dong-gung (Huons) defeated Yoo Chang-sun with a set score of 3-1 to advance to the Round of 32, and "rising star" Kim Young-won (Harim) crushed Park Heung-sik 3-0. "Spain's strongest" David Martinez (Crown Hite) defeated Bang Jeong-guk 3-1. Lee Chung-bok (High1 Resort), Cho Don-hwi (Welcome Savings Bank), David Sappata (Spain, Woori Financial Capital), and Murat Naci Coklu (Turkey, Hana Card) also advanced to the Round of 32.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original