"Billiards empress" Kim Ga-young, 43, of Hana Card, and "Cambodian express" Sarung Pheavy, 35, of Woori Financial Capital, will meet in the final to compete for the trophy of the second tournament of the professional billiards season.
Kim defeated last year's champion of this event, Lee Mi-rae of High1 Resort, by a set score of 3-1 in the women's LPBA semifinal of the Professional Billiards Association (PBA) Tour 2026-2027 season "People's Happiness Rest Area High1 Resort PBA-LPBA Championship," held Tuesday at the Grand Hotel Convention Tower of High1 Resort in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province. Sarung secured her ticket to the final by beating Kwon Bal-hae of SY by a score of 3-1.
Kim and Sarung will play a best-of-seven final from 10:30 p.m. Wednesday for the winner's prize of 40 million won.
Kim and Sarung, marquee stars and rivals who divide the LPBA between them, have clashed 12 times in total. In their head-to-head record, Sarung leads 7-5, but in their last five meetings Kim has held the edge with four wins and one loss. Their record in finals is even at 2-2. Their final showdown comes nine months after the SY Verite Homme Championship last September. At that time, Kim defeated Sarung by a set score of 4-2 to lift her 16th career title.
With 19 wins, Kim would, by recording two straight victories at this tournament, become the first on the tour to build a monument of 20 career titles, while also surpassing 1 billion won in career prize money (currently 961.13 million won). Sarung, who has 9 wins and prize money of 383.42 million won, could become the second female player after Kim to reach the milestones of 10 wins and 400 million won if she wins.
