Congradulations fo Ga Young Kim, Winner of Women's Tournament of Champions!

[christopheradam]

The article on the tournament is on the main page of AZB for now
What a great player. I made a prediction of Alison and Karen in the finals and Karen winning and I was way off.
both Semi finals between Karen and Ga Young Kim and Fisher and julie kelly
went to sudden death. I had a great time.
Ga Young Kim takes home the $25,000 for the win and is very deserving. She has a great game and was very fun to watch.

Dana, nice meeting you at the event.

Can't wait until the men's event and the women's event next year. Plan ahead and check it out next year. Its a great time!

p.s. I know i spelled congratulations wrong its a "t" not a "d". My mistake, sorry It wouldn't let me edit it or delete and repost.

 

[Jersey]

Ga Young Kim!

My favorite Female Player!, she's the one that has what it takes to de-throne Allison and Karen...keep watching, her victories are going to show the world that Allison and Karen are human, can/will fold under pressure, and can be beat!

You Go Girl!

 

[chefjeff]

p.s. I know i spelled congratulations wrong its a "t" not a "d". My mistake, sorry It wouldn't let me edit it or delete and repost.

A local High School had a sign out front in May saying, "Congradulations, Grads!" Two grand a year they take from me and this is the product they deliver.

Jeff Livingston

 

[christopheradam]

A local High School had a sign out front in May saying, "Congradulations, Grads!" Two grand a year they take from me and this is the product they deliver.

Jeff Livingston

I was running a pool tournament for my work place. I posted the sign up sheet. I left the "F" out of the the posting that said "3rd shif t
Sign up"
Sometimes I spell like "shift"
Good thing I didn't relace the "P" with a "M" or I could "smell" like "shift"

 

[thoffen]

Ga-Young plays closer to the men's game than any other female player. She is still not Allison or Karen, but she has the talent to take the game further.

 

[rackmsuckr]

Ga-Young plays closer to the men's game than any other female player. She is still not Allison or Karen, but she has the talent to take the game further.

I agree, she knows the rails like any billiards player or Philipino. It is just amazing to see how much she knows and so young too. I watched her practice and she can make that cueball dance! She has a great future ahead of her. I was honored to be recognized by her at a WPBA tournament when she came up to me and said she remembered me playing in S. Carolina, tied hill-hill and I made 6 on the break and ran out for the win. Besides Hsin Mei Liu, she has the best all around game and plays most like a man (not including Jean Balukas).

 

[buddha162]

Ga-Young plays closer to the men's game than any other female player. She is still not Allison or Karen, but she has the talent to take the game further.

That is precisely my sentiments. From her break to her stroke to her sheer presence at the table, Ga Young has what it takes to break the gender gap in pool. I firmly, firmly believe this.

Thanks to NoStroke, I had an opportunity to meet her and play a few games with her (at my home room!!!) today, and she is as endearing and down-to-earth as you could ever imagine.

-Roger (could barely hold my cue in front of the reining World Champ)

 

[X Breaker]

That is precisely my sentiments. From her break to her stroke to her sheer presence at the table, Ga Young has what it takes to break the gender gap in pool. I firmly, firmly believe this.

Thanks to NoStroke, I had an opportunity to meet her and play a few games with her (at my home room!!!) today, and she is as endearing and down-to-earth as you could ever imagine.

-Roger (could barely hold my cue in front of the reining World Champ)

Congratulation! How did you do?

I agree with you that Miss Kim is a very nice, polite and fun person to be around.

Miss Kim is also very smart. She is fluent in Chinese, English, and of course, Korean.

Richard

 

[sjm]

Ga-Young plays closer to the men's game than any other female player.

I strongly disagree.

Ga Young certainly has a power-oriented game that sometimes makes one think of the men's game. With her superb break, she can break and run quite often. The rest of her game, meaning her approach and skills when it comes to fighting for control of the table (defense, kicking and two-way shots) is highly underdeveloped and because she doesn't "move" like a man, I'd be quite bearish on her chances in any men's pro event.

Karen Corr is the player on the WPBA tour whose runout skills and "moves game" are most reconcilable with the men pros, and it's the reason she has a fighting chance even against fairly elite men's fields.

Having said that, however, I have to agree that Ga Young has a chance to bring women's pool to a new level. If she ever learns to "move" the way Karen Corr already does, she's near certain to be #1 somewhere down the road.

To have a World Championship, a US Open championship and a Challenge of Champions under her belt at just 22 years (I think) of age is a great achievement. Among woman pros, only Jean had a stronger resume at that age (perhaps LJJ , too).

Ga Young Kim is turning heads with her wonderful play, her poished appearance and her lovely smile. Here's wishing her continued success.

 

[Snapshot9]

I strongly disagree.

Ga Young certainly has a power-oriented game that sometimes makes one think of the men's game. With her superb break, she can break and run quite often. The rest of her game, meaning her approach and skills when it comes to fighting for control of the table (defense, kicking and two-way shots) is highly underdeveloped and because she doesn't "move" like a man, I'd be quite bearish on her chances in any men's pro event.

Karen Corr is the player on the WPBA tour whose runout skills and "moves game" are most reconcilable with the men pros, and it's the reason she has a fighting chance even against fairly elite men's fields.

Having said that, however, I have to agree that Ga Young has a chance to bring women's pool to a new level. If she ever learns to "move" the way Karen Corr already does, she's near certain to be #1 somewhere down the road.

To have a World Championship, a US Open championship and a Challenge of Champions under her belt at just 22 years (I think) of age is a great achievement. Among woman pros, only Jean had a stronger resume at that age (perhaps LJJ , too).

Ga Young Kim is turning heads with her wonderful play, her poished appearance and her lovely smile. Here's wishing her continued success.

Ga Young Kim is like a drink of fresh water in the WPBA.
It is nice to see someone else other than Allison or Karen
rise to the level of play that can be called excellent.

I have to differ though with your perception of Karen's game.
Karen is not strong on kicking or safety play (sure she can hit
the ball, but can not get a safety off a kick), and these
weaknesses against the men will be exploited when she plays
them. Plus, she only makes simple banks when required to,
I have never seen her make a difficult one.

 

[sjm]

Ga Young Kim is like a drink of fresh water in the WPBA.
It is nice to see someone else other than Allison or Karen
rise to the level of play that can be called excellent.

I have to differ though with your perception of Karen's game.
Karen is not strong on kicking or safety play (sure she can hit
the ball, but can not get a safety off a kick), and these
weaknesses against the men will be exploited when she plays
them. Plus, she only makes simple banks when required to,
I have never seen her make a difficult one.

Sorry, Scott, but on this occasion, you are mistaken.

Karen is, by far, the greatest defensive player in the history of women's pool, and I've heard at least two of the current top five on the tour call her the tour's best defensive player. I've also heard top men, including Mika Immonen, say that her defense is exceptional, even by men's pro standards. It's common knowledge on the Joss Tour that Karen has an exceptional "moves game."

Karen's kicking is good, but not exceptional, by men's pro standards. Despite Ga Young Kim's immense billiards knowledge, she is a far, far, weaker kicker than Karen. And yes, Karen, often produces a safety off a kick. Finally, more than any other woman, Karen uses two-way shots to her advantage.

Karen's runout skills are not even nearly on a par with those of Fisher, but her defensive and tactical excellence have enabled her to capture a huge number of titles in WPBA play.

Most remarkable is your contention that her "moves game" weaknesses are exploited when she plays men. This is complete nonsense. She is enormously successful against the men, and her victims list includes Immonen, Robles, Sambajon, Saez, Zuglan, Rempe and countless other stars of the men's game.

Obviously, Karen doesn't play to the standards of the top male pros, with her break being her biggest shortfall, and her pocketing also below them. Still, the contention that the top men can exploit Karen in the area of the "moves game" strongly suggests to me that you haven't watched her compete in men's pro events.

 

[Nostroke]

Karen's kicking is good, but not exceptional, by men's pro standards. Despite Ga Young Kim's immense billiards knowledge, she is a far. far, far, far, far, weaker kicker than Karen. And yes, Karen, often produces a safety off a kick. Finally, more than any other woman, Karen uses two-way shots to her advantage.

Karen's runout skills are not even nearly on a par with those of Fisher, but her defensive and tactical excellence have enabled her to capture a huge number of titles in WPBA play.

HI SJM- How do you explain that GYK has a fairly good record vs Karen and a dismal one vs Allison? Her match on thurs Vs Karen was very tactical- Neither got a shot on the one more than once (IIRC) after the break. Push-outs and safeties ensued with GYK more often gaining the upper hand.

GYK possibly could be a bit weaker than Karen on kicks yet i have seen GYK kick more balls in in 2 matches than Karen in 20.

I think your 5 FARS!!!! (far. far, far, far, far) were a little over the top, gratuitous, ill advised and not well thought out. If you do not edit your post and delete 3 or more 'Fars'-when i see you i will surely challenge you to a duel.

 

[Celtic]

Ga Young Kim is turning heads with her wonderful play, her poished appearance and her lovely smile. Here's wishing her continued success.

She had my head turning long before she started winning, thats for sure. She is extremely pretty.

 

[Snapshot9]

Maybe ...

Sorry, Scott, but on this occasion, you are mistaken.

Karen is, by far, the greatest defensive player in the history of women's pool, and I've heard at least two of the current top five on the tour call her the tour's best defensive player. I've also heard top men, including Mika Immonen, say that her defense is exceptional, even by men's pro standards. It's common knowledge on the Joss Tour that Karen has an exceptional "moves game."

Karen's kicking is good, but not exceptional, by men's pro standards. Despite Ga Young Kim's immense billiards knowledge, she is a far. far, far, far, far, weaker kicker than Karen. And yes, Karen, often produces a safety off a kick. Finally, more than any other woman, Karen uses two-way shots to her advantage.

Karen's runout skills are not even nearly on a par with those of Fisher, but her defensive and tactical excellence have enabled her to capture a huge number of titles in WPBA play.

Most remarkable is your contention that her "moves game" weaknesses are exploited when she plays men. This is complete nonsense. She is enormously successful against the men, and her victims list includes Immonen, Robles, Sambajon, Saez, Zuglan, Rempe and countless other stars of the men's game.

Obviously, Karen doesn't play to the standards of the top male pros, with her break being her biggest shortfall, and her pocketing also below them. Still, the contention that the top men can exploit Karen in the area of the "moves game" strongly suggests to me that you haven't watched her compete in men's pro events.

You're right, I have not watched her compete in men's events, but have
seen about every TV match she has been in. I live in Wichita, Ks., not
the east coast ... lol Yes, I have noticed several times that Karen's
potting ability sometimes gets her out of position errors. Her break doesn't
seem too weak to me, but that is in comparison mostly to Allison's since
it is usually those two playing on TV. I still contend though that her kicking
is not on a pro men's level, and many times she plays a safety, she should
have the cue frozen to a ball, but ends up 1-2 cue ball lengths away from
being frozen. I just believe that she will not get away with this so much
when playing men as playing in the WPBA, IMHO.

 

[sjm]

HI SJM- How do you explain that GYK has a fairly good record vs Karen and a dismal one vs Allison? Her match on thurs Vs Karen was very tactical- Neither got a shot on the one more than once (IIRC) after the break. Push-outs and safeties ensued with GYK more often gaining the upper hand.

GYK possibly could be a bit weaker than Karen on kicks yet i have seen GYK kick more balls in in 2 matches than Karen in 20.

I think your 5 FARS!!!! (far. far, far, far, far) were a little over the top, gratuitous, ill advised and not well thought out. If you do not edit your post and delete 3 or more 'Fars'-when i see you i will surely challenge you to a duel.

Allison is a tougher opponent than Karen, no matter what we're talking about. Allison is having the best year of her career and is without equal at this moment in time.

I had seen Ga Young make a few too many bad choices in the moves game in 2004. Though there has been some progress in 2005, there are still things I've seen that make me feel there's still a way to go. At the BCA Open, a defensive indiscretion at 8 - 7 down should have cost her the match against Myuki Sakai fairly early in the event, but Myuki failed to get out and lost 9 - 8. At WPBA Peoria, a very poor decision on the pushout at 5 - 5 vs Jennifer Chen cost her a TV round match.

I'll say it again. When Ga Young polishes up her "moves game" look for her atop the WPBA rankings. All the raw materials are in place, and only a little seasoning and more accurate tactical decision are needed.

Pleased to learn that Ga Young had so much success in the moves game against Karen on Thursday. Perhaps her game is continuing to mature, and the best is yet to come. Just like you, I hope so.

PS I deleted three of the fars. If two of them was enough for Charles Dickens in the final line of "A Tale of Two Cities", then two is enough for me!

 

[sjm]

You're right, I have not watched her compete in men's events, but have
seen about every TV match she has been in. I live in Wichita, Ks., not
the east coast ... lol Yes, I have noticed several times that Karen's
potting ability sometimes gets her out of position errors. Her break doesn't
seem too weak to me, but that is in comparison mostly to Allison's since
it is usually those two playing on TV. I still contend though that her kicking
is not on a pro men's level, and many times she plays a safety, she should
have the cue frozen to a ball, but ends up 1-2 cue ball lengths away from
being frozen. I just believe that she will not get away with this so much
when playing men as playing in the WPBA, IMHO.

Sorry, Scott. If I'd taken the trouble to look at your location, I'd have known you probably hadn't had much opportunity to watch Karen play on the Joss tour. Hope you get the chance to see her play aganst men, but if you don't, you might be surprised if you talk to any of the regulars on the Joss tour about Karen. Believe me, none of the men want to draw her.

That she succeeds in beating top male pros to the shot through her outstanding "moves game" is, to those of us living in the Northeast, established fact on the Joss tour. Still, the subject of how Ga Young would do against the men is entirely a matter of opinion.

I see Ga young as a great player with a game that's still underdeveloped in a few areas, and that's the very reason I have such high hopes for her. She will get stronger and stronger as her game becomes more mature. I'm sure we'll both enjoy watching the show!

 

[Snapshot9]

Sorry, Scott. If I'd taken the trouble to look at your location, I'd have known you probably hadn't had much opportunity to watch Karen play on the Joss tour. Hope you get the chance to see her play aganst men, but if you don't, you might be surprised if you talk to any of the regulars on the Joss tour about Karen. Believe me, none of the men want to draw her.

That she succeeds in beating top male pros to the shot through her outstanding "moves game" is, to those of us living in the Northeast, established fact on the Joss tour. Still, the subject of how Ga Young would do against the men is entirely a matter of opinion.

I see Ga young as a great player with a game that's still underdeveloped in a few areas, and that's the very reason I have such high hopes for her. She will get stronger and stronger as her game becomes more mature. I'm sure we'll both enjoy watching the show!

Please don't get me wrong, I appreciate your knowledge and insight to karen's
game. That's what will be so great about the KOH tournament. We will all get to see how well the women fare against good men players. It just might give us all a new barometer to judge women pros in the future. I enjoy and appreciate excellent poolplaying no matter who's doing it, except it's a little
harder to take when Earl is loaded up with all his extraneous gear .... lol

 

[Nostroke]

Allison is a tougher opponent than Karen, no matter what we're talking about. Allison is having the best year of her career and is without equal at this moment in time.

I had seen Ga Young make a few too many bad choices in the moves game in 2004. Though there has been some progress in 2005, there are still things I've seen that make me feel there's still a way to go. At the BCA Open, a defensive indiscretion at 8 - 7 down should have cost her the match against Myuki Sakai fairly early in the event, but Myuki failed to get out and lost 9 - 8. At WPBA Peoria, a very poor decision on the pushout at 5 - 5 vs Jennifer Chen cost her a TV round match.

I'll say it again. When Ga Young polishes up her "moves game" look for her atop the WPBA rankings. All the raw materials are in place, and only a little seasoning and more accurate tactical decision are needed.

Pleased to learn that Ga Young had so much success in the moves game against Karen on Thursday. Perhaps her game is continuing to mature, and the best is yet to come. Just like you, I hope so.

PS I deleted three of the fars. If two of them was enough for Charles Dickens in the final line of "A Tale of Two Cities", then two is enough for me!

Thank you SJM- I have no argument with you on Karen being the better 'mover'/shot selector. GYK will almost always go for the gusto-one of the reasons she is so exciting to watch.

But as an erudite poster whom I spoke with tonite said (and he brought it up) Karen is not '5 fars' superior to GYK in anything- least of all kicking.

 

[sjm]

Thank you SJM- I have no argument with you on Karen being the better 'mover'/shot selector. GYK will almost always go for the gusto-one of the reasons she is so exciting to watch.

But as an erudite poster whom I spoke with tonite said (and he brought it up) Karen is not '5 fars' superior to GYK in anything- least of all kicking.

Truly a shame that GYK won't be in the IPT event. Must assume she didn't apply, as a Women's World and US Open Champion would surely have been selected. Would have been great watching her.

 

[LastTwo]

(sure she can hit
the ball, but can not get a safety off a kick), and these
weaknesses against the men will be exploited when she plays
them. Plus, she only makes simple banks when required to,
I have never seen her make a difficult one.

I found this post very odd. Top male players sell out on kick shots all the time. Efren sells out the least out of everyone, but no living human can control kick shots with perfection. There is a percentage factor involved in them. The second statement you made is hilarious....she never goes for difficult banks? Part of being a top player is being a percentage player. If you always saw her going for difficult shots, you might think she is a bit inexperienced. Apparently she is not. LOL what a funny post.