The ‘pro’ wall was higher than expected. The world’s top amateur billiards players suffered harsh debut defeats in their professional billiards (PBA) debuts.
Spanish three-cushion legend Daniel Sanchez (Eswai), who has won 16 UMB World Cup titles, as well as Korean top players Choi Sung-won (Huons) and Murat Nasi Choklu (Turkiye-Hanakkad) all suffered their first losses in the tournament.
Sanchez fell to Hwang Duk-hee (Eswai) in straight sets, 1-3 (3-15, 15-5, 8-15, 7-15), on Day 1 of the PBA 128 at the Gyeongju Blue One Resort PBA-LPBA Championship on March 13. Sanchez struggled early on. She was swept in the first set, scoring just three points in 11 games. In the second set, he scored seven high-scoring points in the fifth and eighth innings to win 15-5 and even the match, but he faltered again in the third and fourth sets.
Choi Sung-won then faced Park Han-ki and started well, taking the first set 15-11 in seven games, but dropped the next three games to eventually lose the match 1-3 (15-11, 13-15, 12-15, 3-15). Chouklou lost a close match to Park Dong-joon in a tiebreaker to go down 1-2.
Meanwhile, Frederic Coudron (Belgium-Wellcome Savings Bank), a strong contender for the title, fell victim to an upset as he was swept aside by Yoon Seok-hyun 0-3. Established PBA powerhouses such as ‘turquoise powerhouse’ Birole Wimaz (Welcome Savings Bank) and Chan Chapak (Blue One Resort) also packed their bags early after dropping their opening games 메이저놀이터.