The 'queen of billiards,' Kim Ga-young (42, Hana Card), shone from the season opener.
On the 22nd, Kim Ga-young defeated Cha Yoo-ram (38, Huons) in the LPBA final of the 'Woori Financial Group Capital PBA-LPBA Championship 2025' held at the KINTEX PBA Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, with a set score of 4-0 (11-1, 11-6, 11-2, 11-6).
With this victory, Kim Ga-young lifted her 15th career championship trophy after finishing the last season with seven consecutive victories, marking her eighth straight win at the start of the 2025-26 season. Her cumulative prize money has surpassed 720.8 million won.
In particular, Kim Ga-young broke several records through the final on this day. She achieved the first 4-0 complete victory since the seven-match, four-win system was introduced in the LPBA finals (2021-22 season) and shortened the final's shortest time from 97 minutes to 76 minutes, a reduction of 21 minutes.
Kim Ga-young was dominant from the early stages of the match. In the first set, she overwhelmed her opponent with a high run of 8 points, winning 11-1 (5 innings), and in the second set, she fended off Cha Yoo-ram's pursuit, winning 11-6 (9 innings).
Kim Ga-young started the third set with a high run of 5 points and finished it 11-2 (11 innings), seizing the momentum early, and she clinched the fourth set 11-6 (6 innings), roaring with triumph.
With this victory, Kim Ga-young revived her winning streak of 10 matches, which had been interrupted when she lost to Kim Ye-eun (Woori Bank) in the third match of the group stage of the 'SK Rent-a-Car-Jeju Special Self-Governing Province LPBA World Championship' last season. At that time, her winning streak had been 38 matches.
After the match, Kim Ga-young said, "I'm happy. I focused on regaining my original mind while preparing for this season. There were good parts during this tournament, but there are still many areas that are lacking." She noted, "Regardless of the amount of practice, I concentrated on fulfilling my duties as a player consistently."
The 'Welcome Top Ranking' award (prize of 2 million won) given to the player with the highest average in a match was won by Lim Jeong-sook (Crown Haitai), who recorded an average of 2.778 against Kim Bo-reum in the Round of 64.
Meanwhile, on the 23rd, the semifinals and finals of the men's PBA will take place. The first semifinal match between David Zapata (Spain, Woori Financial Group Capital) and Murat Naji Choklu (Turkey, Hana Card) will be held at 12 p.m., followed by the second match at 3 p.m. between Daniel Sanchez (Spain, Woori Bank) and Lee Seung-jin. The final will start at 9 p.m., with a championship prize of 100 million won.
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