Bucheon, Korea- The 2nd Annual Showdown in Seoul featured World Champion Semih Sayginer (TUR) against World Trickshot Champion Stefano Pelinga (ITL), and Jeanette Lee vs Yu Ram Cha. The popular Sopooong Department Store hosted the special matches which also scheduled Turkish Champ Neslihan Gurel, Korea #2 Eun Ji Park, and celebrities such as internationally acclaimed pop artist Nancy Lang and Uzbekistan's top fashion model Jamilra. The Dragon Promotions special event consisted of players playing a combination of pool and carom for Korea's top entertainment channel XTM.
Billiard world icon Semih Sayginer performed an array of artistic shots on the carom table while Stefano Pelinga was able to hold his own on the carom table. When the tables were turned almost literally, Pelinga made his selection of masterful pool shots on the pool table and remarkably enough, sayginer was able to duplicate almost all the pool shots as well.
"This is not only my first trip to Korea, but the first time ever in Asia. So far it's been a really wonderful experience." said Pelinga.
Jeanette Lee played an exhibition match with celebrity pop artist Nancy Lang and later against fashion model Jamilra. Afterwards Yu Ram Cha joined in a friendly team match with Semih Sayginer coaching the celebrities. When Lang made her first 3cushion point, under the guidance of Sayginer, she shrieked joyously and leapt into the air out of excitement!
Pre-cursor matches leading up to the main match had Eun Ji Park against Neslihan Gurel playing an 8-ball match and 9-ball match. Park took the 9-ball match win while Gurel won the 8-ball. Then Gurel played against Korea's newest WPBA star Yu Ram Cha in a 9-ball match. Gurel came out strong with a 3-0 lead, but Cha was able to comeback with six straight games for the match win at 6-3.
"Today was my first time playing a real match on TV, and I was shaking! But after I made a few shots I calmed down," commented Gurel.
In the final match, Jeanette Lee matched up in a 3cushion showdown against Yu Ram Cha. In the race to 10 points, Cha looked great taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Lee then came back to tie the match at 3-3. Cha was able to gain the lead again at 4-3, but this was brief as Lee went on a tear controlling the match until she reached the hill at 9-7. Cha scraped together two more points to tie the match at 9-9 and faced a difficult but makeable four rail billiard. She sliced the red ball thin and sent the white around the table and it looked good for a moment but she missed by a few millimeters. Lee then took her first hot at the win with a three railer but she misread the angle slightly and was not able to avoid the kiss on the red. Fortunately the kiss didn't deter her yellow and managed to bend into the white ball finally for the thrilling escape and 10-9 win.
The Showdown in Seoul is sponsored by XTM, Sopooong Department Store, Tony Moly Cosmetics, and Ra Beauty Salons. Official equipment sponsors are Simonis Cloth http://www.iwansimonis.com/, Vigma Balls www.vigma.com , Hollywood Tables, Poison Cues www.poisonbilliards.co.kr , and Predator Cues www.predatorcues.co.kr
