Ilsan,Korea- Jeanette Lee captained perhaps the most talented women's carom team in the world with Korean comrades Ga Young Kim and Yu Ram Cha in the XTM Women's International Team Carom produced by Dragon Promotions. The challenging team included Captain Miyuki Sakai(JPN), Shanelle Loraine (GUA), and Isabelle Krafczyk (GER).
The 3 Cushion event took place in a semi-dome arena set up outside of La Festa, a busy and popular shopping district. The event was sponsored by CYON Phones, Coca Cola, Costri Cosmetics, Ra Beauty Salons, Predator Cues, Poison Cues, and Hollywood Tables.
The first match was a 3-on-3 match up with teammates alternating shots in each 3 Cushion match. The race to 5 format with the first team reaching 9 matches as the victors. The players started out slow with no one making a point the first few innings. World Team struck first with a point but was not long before the Koreans caught up. the Koreans held a 4-2 lead but Sakai made it 4-3 but then Krafczyk and Loraine missed their chances to tie and Korea won the first match point. Next match was even closer with Sakai and Loraine fighting to 4-4 against Kim and Cha before Cha scored the winning point 5-4.
The away team finally got a break with Japan/Germany pairing of Sakai and Krafczyk against Lee and Kim. Lee and Kim had immense carom experience between the two, but Sakai and Krafczyk fought to tie it at 4-4 with Sakai making excellent caroms. In the it was Krafczyk scoring the winning point with a three rail draw shot carom. Korea now held a 2-1 lead.
In the singles, the Koreans were dominant as Cha beat Krafczyk 5-1, Kim crushed Loraine 5-0, and in the Captains Match Lee defeated Sakai 5-3.
Sakai was no doubt playing very well scoring the most points for the World Team. In the Doubles once again, she was paired with Guam's beautiful Shanelle Loraine. Loraine was having a difficult time but Sakai was making a point on her turn almost each inning keeping Lee and Cha on the fence. Loraine had an opportunity at 4-4 to score the winning point but a miscue gave Korea back the inning and they made the final point to win 5-4 once again. The momentum was so strong at this point that the Koreans seem to fly by in the next few matches with Yu Ram Cha scoring the event ending point the final match for Korea's 9-1 devastation of the World Team.
"This team put together for Korea is amazing. Yu Ram, Ga Young and myself...it's really a very talented trio." Said Jeanette Lee.
"It was a lot of fun even though we lost. I mean, who is going to beat them(Lee,Cha,Kim) in carom or in pool?" said Sakai.
After the event the excited fans spent an hour in line getting autographs from the stars of the event. The young ladies then all spent a night on the town enjoying Korean food and karaoke.
