The 11th National Territorial Central Cup 2023 National Billiards Competition (hereinafter referred to as the 2023 National Territorial Central Cup)먹튀검증 and the 11th Asian Carom Championships held in Yanggu-gun, Gangwon-do were successfully completed after a total of 7 days.
In the men’s general category of Carom 3-Cushion, Cho Myung-woo (Seoul City Hall) won the championship over Kim Jin-yeol (Ansan Billiard Federation) with a time of 50:47 and an average of 2.083 in 24 innings. In the Carom 3-Cushion Women’s General Division, Jang Ga-yeon (Gyeongbuk Billiards Federation) won the championship by defeating Lee Shin-young (Chungnam Billiards Federation) 25:21.
In three events, including the Carom 3-Cushion, the players of the Incheon Metropolitan City Sports Association stood out. In the pocket 10 ball, Kwon Ho-jun (Incheon Metropolitan City Sports Association) in the men’s division and Lee Woo-jin (Incheon Metropolitan City Sports Association) won the championship in the women’s division. In snooker and English Billiard, Lee Dae-gyu (Incheon Metropolitan City Sports Association) took second place in both events, while Park Yong-jun (Jeonnam Billiards Federation) and Hwang Yong (Seoul City Hall) won the snooker championship.
From the 23rd, the 11th Asian Carom Championships, Asia’s most prestigious carom event, was held. A total of 80 athletes from Korea, Vietnam, and Japan participated, and it was held in 4 categories: men’s 3-cushion, men’s 1-cushion, women’s 3-cushion, and U-22 3-cushion events.
In the men’s 3-cushion event, Jo Myung-woo Cho, the champion of the 2023 Korea National Championships, became the Asian champion. Jo Myung-woo, who won all seven matches from the group stage to the final, showed a splendid performance with an average average of 2.222. In particular, in the final, he showed amazing performance against Tran Thanh Luk (ranked 151st in the world) of Vietnam, recording 50:20 in 16 innings and an average of 3.125.
Jo Myung-woo, who stayed in the runner-up in the men’s 3-cushion category at the 10th Asian Carom Championships in 2019, won the championship and relieved the runner-up. Jo Myung-woo, who participated in the awards ceremony, expressed his feelings, “I never imagined winning this competition, but I am so happy to win. I will work harder to achieve this year’s goal in the future.”
In the women’s 3-cushion and under 22 (U-22) 3-cushion events, Korean players continued to excel. A total of eight Korean players participated in the women’s 3-cushion event. A total of eight domestic top-ranked players, including Han Ji-eun (Seongnam Billiards Federation), who is running second in the world ranking, Jang Ga-yeon, and Lee Shin-young, competed for the championship. Except for Lee Shin-young and Huh Chae-won (Korea National Sport University), 6 players joined the quarterfinals, and in the final, Han Ji-eun and Jang Ga-yeon faced each other.
In the final, Han Ji-eun showed the best performance. He took a far lead by recording 20:1 and an average of 5.000 until the 4th inning in the first half. The final score was 30:6 in 15 innings, with an average of 2.000, and Han Ji-eun won the gold medal.
In the U-22 3-cushion event, all Korean players stood on the podium and dominated. Kim Do-heon (Suwon Billiards Federation) and Lee Jong-hoon (Gyeongnam Billiards Federation) won gold and silver medals, respectively, while Park Jeong-woo (Kyungdong High School Affiliated Broadcasting High School) and Jeong Jae-in (Baekseok High School) won bronze medals, filling the podium with Korean national flags.
In the men’s 1-cushion event, unfortunately, he did not win a gold medal. While Cho Myung-woo knelt down on Yuichiro Mori (Japan, world ranking 550) in the first match of the round of 16, Lee Jung-hee (Siheung City Sports Association) and Kang Ja-in (Chungnam Sports Association) advanced to the quarterfinals. Jain Kang also failed to advance to the semifinals by losing to Yuichiro Mori, while Junghee Lee was the only Korean player to advance to the semifinals. However, in the semi-finals, he lost 100:19 to Bo Phuoc Thanh of Vietnam, ending the tournament in a tie for third place. In this way, Korean players have been on the podium in all events, solidifying their position as the strongest country in Asia.
After the tournament, Chairman Park Bo-hwan, president of the Korea Billiards Federation and Asia Carom Billiards Federation (ACBC), gave a closing remarks, saying, “A total of 80 players from 3 countries participated in Asia’s most prestigious carom event, which was held again in 4 years, and showed excellent performance. I am grateful for the presentation and I also thank the officials of the Yanggu-gun Sports Foundation for making it possible for the tournament to be held in a good stadium environment.”