I had so much fun watching the Korea International Championships this year. The events were filled with highlights right from the start. My fellow relatively unknown Korean pro friend Kim Hee-chul beat Mika Immonen! It was a great victory for him and I am now trying to force the nickname `the Korean Iceman` on him but he`s not biting...lol
Then Young-Hwa Jeong finished Mika off, sending him over to the Phillipines early. I thought it was Young-hwa`s tournament but he went for an outrageous 9-ball combo against young Japanese star Hijikata(That kids only 17 but has a hammer break and has absolutely zero fear!) and missed it by a mile. Young-hwa seemed to take the kid lightly but Hijikata was having none of that. He finished the table that game down 9-7 and ran off the next two racks while the top Korean player just sat, watched and shook his head in disbelief. Young-hwa just got off a huge win over rival Seung-woo Ryu. That was the 2nd time they met in the tournament due to the format of reselecting after the final 16 are in place. The first time they met, Young-hwa was up big only to see Seung-woo come racing back, knocking in three 9-balls off the break! There were words exchanged that I will not translate into English for you but as you can expect, they were quite harsh. So for this final 16 match they requested that someone besides themselves to rack. Guess who? Me... I hate racking!! I always get blamed for the slightest little things! But Young-hwa and Seung-woo respected my racking ability and I personally witnessed a grueling match in which Young-hwa was able to pull ahead after the score was tied 6-6 and win. I play with Seung-woo every day. He is a young kid with so much talent. He is actually at the pool hall more than I am, running drill after drill after drill.
Charlie Williams was then the only player left who could put a stop to the all-Japanese finals. He lost to Go Takami in a thriller! Charlie thought he had played a nice safety but Takami made an amazing cut to excite the crowd and that right there gained him the confidence to pull off an upset over the great Korean Dragon.
I am really proud of the Koreans. They are improving drastically and I am sure you will be hearing more about them world-wide soon. They are still cushion-minded and once they get over that, look out! Ga-young Kim is a great example of that. She took herself out of Korea and now look what she has accomplished. You will also be hearing about a young Korean girl, Yu-ram Cha. She is on fire these days! Playing with so much confidence! She almost won back-to-back events here in Korea but fell short to Sung-hyun Jung in the finals.
I was also amazed by the trickshot shows which were put on in between finals matches by Ralph Eckert, Shuji Nagata from Japan, Park Shin-young from Korea and Charlie Willliams from U.S.A./Korea. Eckerts show was by far the best to me but none the less, they were all spectacular.
I wish some of you die-hards could make the trip over here for one of Dragon Promotions events. It will give you a chance to see the top Asian pros along with many international stars. Plus you get to experience a whole new culture! As a matter of fact, if you are interested in coming here for a vacation or to play some great pool, pm me and I will put you in the right direction!
Then Young-Hwa Jeong finished Mika off, sending him over to the Phillipines early. I thought it was Young-hwa`s tournament but he went for an outrageous 9-ball combo against young Japanese star Hijikata(That kids only 17 but has a hammer break and has absolutely zero fear!) and missed it by a mile. Young-hwa seemed to take the kid lightly but Hijikata was having none of that. He finished the table that game down 9-7 and ran off the next two racks while the top Korean player just sat, watched and shook his head in disbelief. Young-hwa just got off a huge win over rival Seung-woo Ryu. That was the 2nd time they met in the tournament due to the format of reselecting after the final 16 are in place. The first time they met, Young-hwa was up big only to see Seung-woo come racing back, knocking in three 9-balls off the break! There were words exchanged that I will not translate into English for you but as you can expect, they were quite harsh. So for this final 16 match they requested that someone besides themselves to rack. Guess who? Me... I hate racking!! I always get blamed for the slightest little things! But Young-hwa and Seung-woo respected my racking ability and I personally witnessed a grueling match in which Young-hwa was able to pull ahead after the score was tied 6-6 and win. I play with Seung-woo every day. He is a young kid with so much talent. He is actually at the pool hall more than I am, running drill after drill after drill.
Charlie Williams was then the only player left who could put a stop to the all-Japanese finals. He lost to Go Takami in a thriller! Charlie thought he had played a nice safety but Takami made an amazing cut to excite the crowd and that right there gained him the confidence to pull off an upset over the great Korean Dragon.
I am really proud of the Koreans. They are improving drastically and I am sure you will be hearing more about them world-wide soon. They are still cushion-minded and once they get over that, look out! Ga-young Kim is a great example of that. She took herself out of Korea and now look what she has accomplished. You will also be hearing about a young Korean girl, Yu-ram Cha. She is on fire these days! Playing with so much confidence! She almost won back-to-back events here in Korea but fell short to Sung-hyun Jung in the finals.
I was also amazed by the trickshot shows which were put on in between finals matches by Ralph Eckert, Shuji Nagata from Japan, Park Shin-young from Korea and Charlie Willliams from U.S.A./Korea. Eckerts show was by far the best to me but none the less, they were all spectacular.
I wish some of you die-hards could make the trip over here for one of Dragon Promotions events. It will give you a chance to see the top Asian pros along with many international stars. Plus you get to experience a whole new culture! As a matter of fact, if you are interested in coming here for a vacation or to play some great pool, pm me and I will put you in the right direction!
