Last season’s PBA Champions, including the PBA’s No. 1 ranked player, Jo Jae-ho (NHCard), Birole Wimaz (Turkiye, Welcome Savings Bank) and Javier Palazon (Spain, Huon’s), passed the first edition of the tournament side by side and joined the Round of 64.
The second day of the Round of 128 of the NHCard PBA Championship, the sixth tour of the professional billiards PBA, was held at the Goyang Kintex PBA Stadium in Goyang City on Tuesday. As a result, Cho Jae-ho defeated Yoon Young-hwan in straight sets 3-0, while Palazon and Wimaz defeated Lee Jae-hong 3-1 to reach the round of 64. Kim Jae-geun (Crown HaeTae), Uhm Sang-pil (Blue One Resort), Lee Sang-dae (Welcome Savings Bank), and Nguyen Dinh Nai (Vietnam & SK Rent-a-Car) also joined the round of 64.
Last season’s PBA Grand Prize winner, Jo Jae-ho, was the first to advance to the Round of 64 on day two. After taking the first set against Yoon Young-hwan 15-5 in six games, he used a seven-point run in the fourth game to take the second set 15-13 (11 games) to take a 2-0 lead. With the momentum in their favor, they scored the first nine points of the third game to take the lead and then scored the remaining six points in the second inning to win 15-3 and cruise to a 3-0 set victory. 캡틴토토
Palazon, who won his third tour title this season and was the runner-up in the previous tour, had a tough time against Jang Hyun-jun, a former Challenge Tour player. After dropping the first set 13-15 (10 games), Palazon bounced back in the second set to level the score at 15-14 (9 games) thanks to a six-point run in the sixth game.
In the third set, the team was down 5:13 before a fourth-inning offense, but Palazon scored four straight points to cut the deficit to 9-13 and then scored the final six points of the fifth in a single cue to take a 15-13 lead. Refocused, Palazon went on a 10-point run in the fourth set to take a 15-8 victory and the match 3-1 in sets.
‘Turkiye powerhouse’ Birole Wimaj also made the round of 64. After taking the first set against Lee Jae-hong 15-4 (9 games), he dropped the second set 3-15 (11 games), but bounced back to take the third and fourth sets 15-7 (8 games) and 15-8 (5 games), respectively, to win the match 3-1.
In addition, ‘Kingsman’ Kim Jae-geun defeated Chung Jung-myung in straight sets 3-1, while ‘domestic powerhouses’ Uhm Sang-pil and Lee Sang-dae defeated Kwon Ki-young and Cho Bang-yeon 3-0 and 3-1, respectively, to reach the round of 64. ‘Vietnamese newcomer’ Nguyen Phuong Linh (Hi One Resort) also defeated Park Heung-sik (A) 3-0, while ‘Vietnamese powerhouse’ Nguyen Dinh Nai also reached the round of 64 with a 3-1 win over Lee Dong-nam.
Meanwhile, it was a mixed bag for former PBA Champions on Day 2 of the Round of 128 as the likes of David Zapata (Spain) were eliminated in a shootout on Day 1.
Eddie Lepence (Belgium, SK Rent-a-Car) was the latest victim. Playing against Park Jung-min (A), Lepence lost 1-2 (2 innings) in a tiebreaker after taking the set 2-2. Other PBA champions, including Oh Sung-wook (NH Card), Shin Jung-joo (Hana Card), and Seo Hyun-min (Welcome Savings Bank), were eliminated in the first round.
Meanwhile, on the third day of the PBA tournament, the round of 64 will begin on the 11th. Starting with the opening ceremony at 11:30 am, the round of 64 will be held in four sessions at 12 noon, 2:30 pm, 5 pm, and 8 pm.
