Ga Young Kim (Photo courtesy of Anne Craig)
Consistency wins money and awards, and in 2010 Ga-Young Kim won the most of both of these as she turned in one of the most dominating performances of any player in recent years. Of the nine events in which she partook over the course of the year she only had one, a team event (World Cup of Pool), where she suffered worse than a fifth-place finish. In individual events her worst finishes were fifth place finishes at the WPBA San Diego Classic, the Women's World 9-Ball Championships and the WPBA Atlanta Classic.
She had a third at the WPBA Tour Championship and seconds at both the Amway Cup and the Women's World 10-Ball Championship. Her two victories came this year at the WPBA US Open and the Challenge of Champions.
Kim is noted for many things, including her formidable skills with both the violin and the piano, but it is her understatements that are so often quoted. Twice she has told me that she is off her game and cannot make a ball before going out and destroying an opponent. And there is absolutely no give-up living anywhere near her soul. When she won the US Open this year she had to face a very tough Karen Corr in the finals. Corr had just beaten Vivian Villareal 7-0 and was energized for a title win. But Kim got to the hill first with a comfortable 6-3 lead. Then the wheels came off as Corr controlled the table and broke and ran a rack to tie the score at 6. Kim calmly strolled to the table in the case game and broke and ran out the rack for the win. All Corr could do was sit and watch.
Her ability to stay cool under fire is becoming legendary. To win the Challenge of Champions she had to win a one-rack tiebreaker against Jasmin Ouschan. She tackled a bank shot to get the job done. as we reported at the time: "Ouschan broke the final rack, but the run was not there. A two-way shot on the two-ball missed the pocket, but Ouschan looked to have left Kim in a tough spot. Kim proved that she was up to the challenge though, and banked the two ball in to gain control of the rack. After that bank, Kim was able to navigate the final rack for the sudden death win and the $20,000 check in this winner-take-all event."
Cool and gifted with talent, Ga-Young Kim will be a threat to any event she enters for many years to come.
