The mens division started with 3 Korean players and 5 foreigners . Unfortunately for Korea, all 3 Korean men were eliminated this round. Thorsten Hohmann ran over Heoung Ho Jeong 11-5, Charlie Williams coasted through Lee Keun Jae 11-4, Max Eberle lost to Kunihiko Takahashi 11-9, and Mika Immonen trailed Shin Young Park 4-1 and ran 8 racks to eventually win 11-6.
In the semi finals Immonen avenged an earlier loss by defeating Takahashi 11-9 while Williams won a hard fought 11-9 battle with Hohmann.
There were some nice additions to the event which included a Brunswick Metro set up for the semi finals and finals and would be the first ever Metro introduced in Korea at the Main BIlliard Club which will keep the table there after the event. Also the President of Brunswick Billiards John Stransky along with Vice President of Marketing Mark McCleary flew to Korea to personally watch the event.
The finals pitted good friends and many times opponents on the table Mika Immonen and Charlie Williams. The match started with some great shotmaking and some big safety played games. Great kicks, banks, jumps, and super thin cut shots were not surprising to see from two of the most offensive players in the game today. Immonen had defeated Williams many times this past 12 months since the Mosconi Cup and through the World Championships. It seemed it was Williams turn this time as Williams ended the Iceman's run with some powerful breaks and excellent shotmaking. Final score Williams 11 and Immonen 6.
This was the 2nd event in a row Williams has won in Korea and also the 2nd time he has won an event he produced and promoted (the first one was also in Korea) .
On the womens side, it seemed that undefeated and untested players Ga Young Kim and Yuan Chun Lin were on a collision course for the finals. This would not be as both players were upsetted by one loss side opponents Yun Mi Lim and Miyuki Sakai. Lim defeated her fellow Korean compatriot in a 9-8 thriller filled with dramatic kicks and safety play. Sakai came with some amazing shotmaking to defeat the stunned Taiwanese star Lin 9-7.
In the finals, it was Japan vs Korea in a big country to country rivalry. Both players were obviously very nervous by the situation as this was the biggest match of their careers thus far. The match was riddled with mistakes and unforced errors by both players beginning to end. Neither player was able to break and run a rack nor capitalize on each others errors. But Korea's Lim edged out eventually to a 8-6 lead and needed one game for the win. Unfortunately for her and the Korean fans, she could not finish Sakai off as Sakai took advantage of the chances and made an exciting out for the 9-8 win.
The Brunswick Korea Professional Pool Tour produced by Dragon Promotions will continue in the fall.
