Hong Jin-pyo wins first national championship since returning to the billiards federation
‘The Returned Dr. Hong’ Hong Jin-pyo won his first national championship since returning to the Korean Billiards Federation.
Hong teamed up with Ahn Ji-hoon (Daejeon Billiards Federation) to win the 3-cushion doubles title at the National Billiards Championships with a dramatic one-point victory over Heo Jeong-han and Lee Jong-hoon (Gyeongnam Billiards Federation). In the Pocket 9 Ball Doubles, Kwon Ho-joon and Lee Ha-lin (Incheon City Sports Association) took the top spot.
Hong Jin-pyo and Ahn Ji-hoon defeated Heo Jong-hoon and Lee Jong-hoon 30:29 (34 innings) in the 3-cushion doubles final of the 18th Korea Sports Presidents’ Cup National Billiards Championships at the Yanggu Youth Gymnasium in Gangwon Province on Friday evening. In third place were Choi Sung-woo (Silk Road & T, Seoul Metropolitan Government), Jeong Ye-sung (Seoul Billiards Federation), and Park Deok-young (Seoul Billiards Federation).
In the final, the two teams were neck-and-neck throughout. In the first 13 games, the teams were tied at 11:11, but in the 14th game, Heo Jeong-han and Lee Jong-hoon scored two points to take the lead at 13:12, and in the 18th game, they took the lead at 17:14, and in the 19th game, they scored a high run of five points to widen the gap to 22:15.
However, the tide turned for both teams after that. While Heo Jeong-han and Lee Jong-hoon scored just two points in the 20th through 27th games, Hong Jin-pyo and Ahn Ji-hoon quickly caught up to take the lead at 26:24 and held it at 28:25 in the 30th game.
However, in game 31, Heo Jeong-han and Lee Jong-hoon tied the score with three points and then added one more in game 32 to reach match point first at 29:28. In the 33rd game, both teams failed to score, and in the 34th game, after the “first ball” Heo Jung-i Jong-hoon struck again, Hong Jin-pyo-Ahn Ji-hoon, who took over the offense, scored the remaining two points to end the game. Hong Jin-pyo-Ahn Ji-hoon won 30:29 (34 innings).
After playing in the PBA, Hong returned to the Korean Billiards Federation in April last year and competed in the Namwon National Billiards Championships in July and the Goseong County Championships in August, but both were eliminated in the round of 128.
In the Pocket 9-ball doubles final, Kwon Ho-joon and Lee Ha-lin won the title with an 8:4 victory over Ha Min-wook and Choi Sol-leap (Busan Billiards Federation). Seo Seo-ah and Jang Moon-seok (Jeonnam Billiards Federation) and Jin Hye-joo and Kim Su-woong (Gwangju Billiards Federation) took third place.