 Ga-Young Kim |
Kwang Ju, Korea- Dragon Promotions once again organized The 2nd Annual Women's Ultimate Trickshot Challenge which hosted 6 top women from around the world. This event was the first ever artistic competition set in Korea and one of the few in Asia. Last year's champion Jeanette Lee came back to defend her title but was facing new challengers this year.
Jeung Heung Gold Resort and Spa hosted the event in its magnificent facilities. The event was broadcasted live on MBC ESPN for 3 hours and sponsored by the resort as well as Brunswick Billiards and Predator Cues.
In Group A were Isabelle Krafczyk of Germany, Yuram Cha of Korea, and defending champion Jeanette Lee of USA. Players performed a trickshot of their choice and then the other players had to duplicate the shot in 2 attempts. The top two players with the best scores in the first round would advance to the semi-finals. Lee succeeded with a shot shooting ball out of the rack with Cha and Krafcazyk failing to duplicate. Cha's shot was a timing shot but she failed to make it although Lee and Krafczk went on to duplicate. Krafczyk made her shot which consisted of a 2 bank combo which all the players made and gave her the second seed spot and Lee the first seed to the semi-finals with a perfect 3-0 score.
Group B featured Shanelle Loraine of Guam, Miyuki Sakai of Japan, and Ga-Young Kim of Korea. Loraine began the round with a 8-Ball push shot making 2 stripes frozen to the cueball and 8-Ball in the middle and making all the balls except the 8-Ball. She succeeded in making the shot but the other players were stymied and Kim and Sakai both failed. Kim attempted a draw masse shot but failed and none of the other players could make it as well. Sakai made a jump 3rail kick shot and Kim succeeded and Loraine did not. This forced a 3-way tie and sudden death. Loraine made a frozen cueball/8-Ball bank shot that again puzzled Kim and Sakai and became the first to advance to semi-finals. Sakai missed her chance with a cueball off the rail first jump shot that Kim made on her 2nd attempt to advance. Loraine first seed and Kim second seed.
The first semi-finals featured Lee vs Kim. Both players went back and forth but Kim defeated Lee with a great masse shot looping around 6 balls. Lee came close but could not match the shot.
Next underdog Loraine matched Krafczyks 5 balls in one draw shot on her second attempt and beat Krafczyk with a double hit follow through combo shot to advance to the finals.
The finals pitted Kim against surprise finalist Loraine. Kim started with a one handed jump shot which she made on her first attempt. Loraine made a great effort jumping over the ball but missing. Loraine attempted a couple of low percentage tricks while Kim seemed confident in her choices. At the end Kim won the match 3-0 to be crowned this year's Women's Ultimate Trickshot Champion.
"I really didn't expect to reach the finals, so I didn't have a large selection of shots ready. But next time I will practice a lot more shots." said the good natured Loraine.
"Ga Young is just a tremendous player and has a powerful stroke, so it would be hard for any woman's player to match her in any competition. Loraine should also be proud of her performance as she is a rookie to international pro competition. Second place here isn't shabby at all in this field." said event promoter Charlie Williams.
