THE entry of Yuan-chun Lin, the reigning world women's 9-ball champion, will be an added attraction when the WPA World Ten Ball Championship gets underway on September 29 at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City. This was announced yesterday by the Asian Pocket Billiards Union (APBU).
Joining Lin in the competition is Shin-Mei Liu, the Asian Games 9-ball champion in Doha, Qatar in 2006.
Lin defeated two-time world 9-Ball women's champion Ga Young Kim of Korea in the finals of the Women's World 9-ball Championship in Taiwan last April. She earned her spot in the WTBC under the qualification system set by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA) which guarantees seats for women's world and regional champions.
Currently fourth in the money list among women players in the world, Lin is a product of Taoyuan-area pool clubs in Chinese Taipei. She began playing at the age of 17, and has now been a professional player for six years. She won the gold medal in the Doha Asian Games 8-Ball tournament where she topped the best in the region, including Filipino champion Rubilen Amit.
Recently, Lin also pocketed the 4th Annual Korea Pro Pool Tour championship.
Liu, on the other hand, got her spot by virtue of her victory in the Doha Asian Games. She beat Kuan Esther Suet Yee of Malaysia for the gold medal in the 9-ball discipline.
A former WPA World 9-Ball champion, Liu, will bring many years of experience to the table against the best men and women's players from all over the world.
The other lady cue artist already entered in the WTBC is Jasmin Ouschan of Austria. She is currently #1 on the WPA Women's Points List.
The World Ten Ball Championship is being organized by Raya Sports with the support of the Billiards & Snooker Congress of the Philippines, Star Billiards and the Philippine Billiards Foundation. It is sanctioned and supervised by the World Pool-Billiard Association (WPA), the world's governing body for pocket billiards.
