Eighteen-year-old prodigy Kim Young-won (Harim) and "Billiards Queen" Kim Ga-young (43, Hana Card) claimed the throne at the Professional Billiards Association (PBA) World Championship.
Kim Young-won defeated Cho Geon-hwi (SK Rent-a-Car) 4-2 in sets (10-15, 15-10, 15-8, 9-15, 15-13, 15-2) in the best-of-seven PBA final held at Jeju Halla Gymnasium on the evening of the 15th. The event was the 2025-2026 season Hana Card Hana Capital Jeju Special Self-Governing Province PBA-LPBA World Championship. The World Championship is the season-ending tournament featuring only the top 32 players in prize money rankings from the year's PBA league.
At 18 years, 4 months, and 25 days old, Kim Young-won became the youngest champion in World Championship history. The 200 million won ($137,000) prize pushed his cumulative earnings to 469.5 million won, elevating his ranking from 13th to 6th. Kim debuted at age 15 in the third-tier tour during the 2022-2023 season and established himself as the top player in the first-tier tour in just two seasons. This marks his second victory this season and third overall. He emerged as the future of Korean billiards by securing two wins as the only domestic player to do so this season, while foreign players dominated with seven victories across ten tour events. In the fifth set of the final, tied 2-2, Kim fell behind 1-10 after just two innings but mounted a comeback with an 8-point high run in the fourth inning. Trailing 12-13 in the sixth inning, he scored the remaining 3 points to seize momentum.
In the earlier LPBA final, Kim Ga-young rallied to defeat Han Ji-eun (SY) 4-1 in sets (9-11, 11-5, 11-7, 11-1, 11-2), becoming the first player in PBA history to win three consecutive World Championships. Having claimed the throne four times in six World Championship events since the tournament's inception in the 2020-21 season, she added 100 million won to secure the season's top prize money ranking (229.5 million won). She also became the first female player—and fourth overall regardless of gender—to surpass 900 million won in career earnings (911.3 million won).
The PBA, having completed ten tour events since June last year, will officially close the season with the Hana Card PBA Golden Cue Awards 2026 ceremony on the 17th.
