“Who do you really want to win?”
“I want to win everything that’s pretty and young.”
It was a word that instantly blew away the atmosphere of the interview, which seemed rather stiff. Kim Ga-young (41), who emphasized “unshakable composure” throughout the interview on Friday, showed her great desire to win. “Who is the prettiest?” she asked again. “They are all young and pretty.”
Kim Ga-young recently grabbed her 11th career championship after winning the sixth LPGA Tour title during the 2024-25 season, setting the record for the most wins in the men’s professional league. At the same time, she achieved the record for the most consecutive wins by winning 24 consecutive games. She became the first LPBA player to receive more than 500 million won (487,500 U.S. dollars) in total prize money. Literally, it is no exaggeration to say that the current professional league is in the era of Kim Ga-young. Dubbed the “Danggu Empress,” Kim Ga-young had only one secret: her steadiness.
Losing a game doesn’t mean you’re swayed, nor are you excited about winning 온라인바카라. “Danggu is a mental game,” Kim Ga-young said. “It’s my 28th year in the professional league. Just being consistent is the best.” “When I was young, I thought I had to practice for more than a few hours, but now I am not. I make a good routine and exercise more and rest more depending on my physical condition.”
“If you work hard, the trophy will follow you. I wonder what I would do if I did well but didn’t win. For me, the trophy proves that I worked hard and prepared well. If I could not have practiced better, I would go to the game with the mindset that it is enough.”
Wrapping up exercise is also the secret. “When you have a vivid memory of the game, you practice by replaying the situation in the game to get the feel of it,” Kim Ga-young said. “It’s similar to a retro game when you play Go.” Even if you win, there is no exception. “There are days when I played the game as if I was excited, and I can say that I am recording that feeling in my body,” Kim Ga-young said. “Since the game ended late at night, I had practice until early in the morning.”
Kim Ga-young first encountered billiards when she was in the fourth grade of elementary school. She was recommended by her father who runs a billiard room. After entering middle school, she became a full-fledged pocket ball player and ranked No. 1 in the adult category when she was a ninth grader. After graduating from high school, she moved to Taiwan, a powerhouse in pocket ball in 2001. She earned the nickname “little witch” in the sense of a “young woman with courage,” which has become her nickname since then.
overseas expansion
She won three world championships in 2004, 2006, and 2012, and became the first female player to reach the grand slam of one of the four major international competitions in pocketball. Kim Ga-young, who reigned as the best player in pocketball, switched to three cushions with the launch of professional baseball in 2019.
Pocket ball is a sport in which a ball with numbers written on it is put into a hole (pocket) using a white ball (water polo) at a billiard table with six holes. Three cushions are scored by hitting the first red ball with water polo at a billiard table without holes, and then using the second red ball more than three times.
Despite some difficulties in the early stages, he won the trophy in his first season and was the runner-up in the LPBA World Championship in the 2021-22 season. Despite his consistent performance, Kim Ga-young recalled that it was quite difficult at the time. “People were the hardest. I had to prove a lot because I had to start everything over again.”
It is sometimes misunderstood that she only focuses on the game, does not care about anything else, and does not do much of the winning ceremony. “I don’t make a cold face on purpose, nor do I feel bad about it. I just don’t care about other people’s eyes,” Kim Ga-young said. “Some people misunderstand me, but I don’t care about that either.”
In fact, Kim Ga-young was not obsessed with other people’s opinions or evaluations. “When I told her I was going to Taiwan and the U.S., she opposed it a lot. Some people were talking about language problems and she answered, ‘Are you going to starve to death just because you can’t speak?’ I am just moving forward by looking at my goal, instead of worrying about saying things that I can’t take responsibility for.”
father
“When I first became a world champion in 2004, I called my dad and asked him who is the best billiard player in the world, and he said, ‘I made you a Korean champion, but you made me a world champion,'” Kim Ga-young said. “I’ve never been complimented again since then. Even if I win, I’ve improved a bit,” Kim said. “I’ve even heard that from my mom.” Kim Ga-young also does not give compliments to young players under her tutelage. “I think a professional should not be swayed by a few words of compliment.”
