Korea's billiards dream team took its first step toward the 2030 Doha Asian Games.
The Korea Billiards Federation (KBF) finalized the national team rosters for four disciplines — carom three-cushion, pocket nine-ball, snooker and English billiards — through the final round of the 2026 Korea Billiards National Team Trials held at DN Coliseum in Songpa-gu, Seoul, from Nov. 28 to 29, followed by a launching ceremony.
In the men's three-cushion division, which drew the most attention, world No. 1 Cho Myung-woo (Seoul City Hall) secured a spot. Under the principle of selecting the highest-ranked Korean player in the world rankings, he was automatically named to the team without going through the trials. Joining Cho are veteran Heo Jung-han (Gyeongnam Billiards Federation) and Song Yoon-do (Hongseong High School-affiliated Broadcasting and Correspondence High School), a high school student who caused an upset in the trials.
In the women's division, Heo Chae-won (Seoul Billiards Federation), Kim Ha-eun (Namyangju Billiards Federation) and Choi Da-young (Chungbuk Billiards Federation) were named to the national team. In pocket nine-ball, women's ace Seo Seo-ah (Incheon Metropolitan City Sports Council), who won last year's world championship, is considered a gold medal contender.
"This national team selection marks the first step for Korean billiards toward the 2030 Doha Asian Games," KBF President Seo Soo-gil said. "We will gradually overhaul the system so that our national team players can demonstrate competitiveness on the international stage."
At a press conference held after the launching ceremony, Seo expressed a willingness to pursue coexistence and harmony with the Professional Billiards Association (PBA). "Rather than continuing as we have, the two organizations should move toward a healthy union," Seo said. On the possibility of holding an open tournament in which players from both the federation and the PBA compete together, he took an active stance, saying, "The possibility is fully open, and it can be done." Seo added, "When I took office last year, the first thing I wanted to do was to eliminate the penalties players face when moving between the two sides," and stressed that "holding an integrated tournament without being bound by formalities is necessary for the development of billiards."
Earlier, PBA Commissioner Yoon Young-dal proposed at his inauguration ceremony on the 10th that the federation jointly hold an open tournament in which all billiards players, both professional and amateur, can participate. However, Seo diagnosed that it will not be easy, as international tensions — including friction with the Union Mondiale de Billard (UMB) that emerged during the PBA's launch — remain, foreshadowing significant growing pains before true integration is achieved.
