"Billiards Queen" Kim Ga-young (43, Hana Card) claimed the season-opening title of the new Professional Billiards Association (PBA) tour, signaling another year of dominance.
Kim defeated Kim Min-a (35, NH Nonghyup Card) 4-2 (5-11, 9-11, 11-5, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9) in the LPBA women's final of the Woori Financial Capital PBA-LPBA Championship, the opening event of the PBA Tour 2026-2027 season, held at the PBA Stadium in KINTEX, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on the 23rd.
The victory marked Kim's 19th career tour title, extending her own record for the most wins in professional billiards. With the 50 million won winner's prize, she also moved closer to the 1 billion won mark in cumulative prize money, which now stands at 961.13 million won.
Kim, who won the LPBA MVP award for three consecutive years through last season, has grown even stronger this season. At this opening tournament, she became the first LPBA player to surpass 1,000 career bank shots and recorded a "perfect cue" in the quarterfinals. The win also gave her a 4-3 edge in her head-to-head record against Kim Min-a.
In Sunday's final, Kim showed her resilience by mounting a comeback despite being in less than peak condition. Kim Min-a took early control, opening the first set with a bank shot and riding that momentum to win the first two sets. But Kim Ga-young remained composed. Scoring three points in the opening inning and building a 9-0 lead, she took the third set 11-5 to begin her chase. She captured the fourth set after a grueling 19-inning battle, leveling the match at 2-2. Kim then turned the tide in the fifth set with a high run of six points. In the sixth, when Kim Min-a closed the gap to 9-9 in the 10th inning, Kim Ga-young immediately scored two points in the next inning to seal the match. The win also gave her a 4-3 advantage in their all-time head-to-head record.
On the 24th, the final day of the tournament, the men's PBA semifinals and final will be held. The first semifinal between Cho Kun-hwi (Welcome Savings Bank) and Nguyen Phuong Linh (Vietnam, Harim) starts at 11 a.m., followed by the second semifinal between Cho Jae-ho (NH Nonghyup Card) and David Zapata (Spain, Woori Financial Capital) at 2 p.m. The winners will compete in a best-of-seven final at 8 p.m. for a 100 million won winner's prize.
