 Charlie Williams and Yun Mi Lim |
Incheon,Korea- The Korean Dragon Charlie Williams and KPT #2 Women's Yun Mi Lim made it an all Korean Champions day as they defeated their international counterparts. This made it the first time ever in Korean pool history that both men and women's divisions were won by Korea. The event was produced by Dragon Promotions and matches were televised on MBC ESPN and sponsored by Lotte Department Store, Ra Beauty Salons, Predator Cues, Poison Cues, and Min Tables.
Lim set the tone for the day with her match against WPBA top pro and World Games Gold Medalist Jasmin Ouschan. Ouschan was thus far undefeated in the event but the event had now changed to single elimination. Lim had lady luck on her side as she made a 9 ball on the break and later lucked a missed shot and ran out. She backed it up with two break and runs. Jasmin got a few opportunities but was not able to make balls on her break and left open tables for Lim. Lim was able to keep control of the match with a 6-2 win to advance to the finals.
"She had a few rolls in the match and then backed it up with good play. I had dry breaks and then pretty soon it was over. What can you do." said Ouschan about the match.
Next the Men's semi finals #1 featured new Filipino sensation Joven Bustamante against unheralded Ricky Zerna. Bustamente, managed by Bugsy Promotions, has had a tremendous rookie year in international play with a 3rd place finish at The World 8-Ball, 3rd place at the World 9-Ball, 1st at Korea International Championships, and now a minimum 3rd place finish guaranteed. Ricky Zerna, an unknown player but member of Negros Billiard Stable owned by Jonathan Sy, already took out countryman Jundal Mazon and was now looking for his first international win. Errors by Bustamante proved to be costly in the race to 7 TV matches. Joven's powerful break also failed him giving Zerna the opportunities he needed to take the lead and never look back with a 7-3 victory.
Women's semi finals #2 featured Yu Ram Cha against WPBA Top 20 from Japan Miyuki Sakai. Cha had defeated Sakai earlier in the year in the Showdown in Seoul playing 3Cushion, 8-Ball and 9-Ball sweeping Sakai in all three games. This day would be no different as she crushed Sakai 6-2 to advance to the finals.
In the Mens Semi Finals #2 good friends and former teammates Rodney Morris and Charlie Williams faced each other. A dry break from Morris and then a missed shot in next rack gave Williams a chance to go up 2-0. Morris returned with back to back games of his own at 2-2. A miscue on a jump shot gave Williams another out and a break and run on his break gave him back 4-2 lead. A dry break from Morris gave Williams another out and another break and run to make it 6-2 and Morris was too far behind in the alternate break format with one more game before Williams won at 7-3 in a flawless performance.
"I tried to play a few shots to cheat the pocket when I should have played more towards the center of the pocket instead. Just got too cute on some of the shots. But now that it's over I'll be rooting for Charlie in the finals." commented Morris after the match.
"Rodney played awesome to get to the semi and he made a few errors in the match. In a race to 7 it doesn't take much to get behind." said Williams.
The Mixed Doubles Finals were on next with Japan's Takenaka/Sakai versus Korea's Williams/Cha. Japan got an early lead with a break and run and then a botched up jump attempt by Cha made it 2-0 Japan. Williams missed position for Cha which lead to another oppotunity for Japan and later a missed 5 ball by Cha sealed Korea's team fate as Japan rolled to 5-0 win.
The Women's Finals was expected to have Yu Ram Cha against the powerful Austrian Ouschan. Yun Mi Lim had other plans in mind as she took Ouschan's place and was going to make her own fate. The odds looked against Lim still with her being the brides maid finishing 2nd place in two of the Korea International Championships and two 3rds with never a win. Cha had also earlier gave Lim her only loss in a 7-0 whitewash. Cha took an early lead at 3-1 and on Lim's break she ran out to the 8-ball but missed sending the 8-Ball 3 rails and freezing it luckily to the cueball leaving Cha no shot. Cha tried a safe but left Lim the out. The next game Lim missed the 4ball but left Cha hooked and after Cha made contact on the 4ball Lim ran out for 3-3 tie. Then Lim backed up her good fortune with a break and run. A dry break from Cha gave Lim another out and then Lim broke and ran the last rack to win her first major title at 6-3. The win also enabled her to overtake KPT #1 Eun Ji Park for Player of the Year honors.
The Men's Finals was Korea versus Phillipines as Hyun Ho Kim(Williams under banner of Korea) took on Ricky Zerna. In a one sided match, Williams was absolutely dominant breaking and running the rack on his break 4 times and taking advantage of a dry break and two missed shots by Zerna. Playing fast and loose, Williams played another near perfect match not missing one shot in the semi or the finals and he defeated Zerna 7-1 in less than 30 minutes. The victory gave Williams his 3rd international title in Korea and $15,000 for 1st place.
"It feels good to win here again in Korea. I really had luck on my side yesterday in my wins against the two Japanese champs, but today I pulled through with a good performance. You really need both luck and skill to win a tournament." said Williams.
At the KPT 2007 Awards Banquet all the players were invited for a fabulous authentic Korean array of dishes. A slideshow movie of the past year and awards were given to players.
Man of the Year - Myung Jin Kim -DP Korea General Manager
Sportswoman of the Year- Jasmin Ouschan (AUT)
Sportsman of the Year - Hayato Hijikata (JPN)
Player of the Year(Men) - Young Hwa Jeong (KOR)
Player of the Year(Women)- Yun Mi Lim (KOR)
Fan Favorite - Daerin Lee
Best Dressed- Pil Hyun Cho
Rookie of the Year (Men) - Min Wuk Ha
Rookie of the Year (Women) - Minyung Lee
For more info goto www.dragonpromotions.com or www.dragonpromotions.co.kr
