“Danggu Empress” Kim Ga-young (41, Hana Card) lifted her 9th career championship cup, setting the highest PBA-LPBA victory.
Kim Ga-young defeated Han Ji-eun (10-1 11-4 11-7 6-116-116-109-7) in the final round of the Crown Haitai LPBA Championship at KINTEX PBA Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 17th.
With this, Kim Ga-young achieved nine wins in PBA-LPBA, surpassing Frederick Cudron (Belgium, 8 times) as the most winner of professional baseball. In addition, Kim Ga-young has also won two consecutive titles following the 2024 SY Bazar Hanoi Open in Hanoi, Vietnam, in August.
In particular, Kim Ga-young, who showed her unique game management during the three full-set matches, including the round of 16, the semifinals and the final, added 40 million won in prize money, surpassing 400 million won (421.8 million won) in cumulative prize money as the first LPBA player. 메이저놀이터
The victim of Kim Ga-young’s milestone was Han Ji-eun, the “ice princess.” Han Ji-eun, who entered the LPBA stage last season, advanced to the finals for the first time in 14 competitions, but failed to overcome Kim Ga-young’s barrier.
Han Ji-eun took the first set of the match. Han Ji-eun turned the tables with 11-10 (three innings) in just three innings by banking on two long balls. Then, Kim Ga-young countered the situation in the second set. Kim Ga-young scored without a single hit in every inning, and secured the set by running to 10-2 by banking on six-run long balls in the fourth inning.
Kim Ga-young came from behind to end the game 8-7 with a bank shot in the 12th inning of the third set, when the score was 6-7, and finished the game 11-7 in the 16th inning, rather leading the set score 2-1. Immediately, Han reversed the set again. Han took the fourth set 11-6 (seven innings) and secured the game 11-6 (eight innings) until the fifth set, leaving only one set to win the title.
Kim Ga-young, who was on the brink of collapse, survived a dramatic upset in the sixth set. Han led 10-9 in the 13th inning, but Kim took the next opportunity to add two more points to lead the game to the seventh set. Kim Ga-young, who was trailing Han 3-7, also cheered in the final set, turning the game around 9-7.
Immediately after winning the championship, Kim Ga-young said, “I am very happy to win the title of my first nine championships. It feels very good to write records that others have not achieved.”
“However, I will make it my motivation in my career to be recognized by many juniors and people with my skills rather than the number of wins, and to show a satisfactory performance on my own,” he added.
Meanwhile, Namiko Hayashi of Japan, who recorded 2.273 in the PPQ (first qualifying round), won the “Welcome Top Ranking” given to the player with the highest average score in a game.
The semifinal and final matches of the PBA will take place on Saturday, the last day of the Chuseok holiday. The first semi-final match between Murat Najee Choclu (Turkey, Hana Card) and Mamin Gum (NH Nonghyup Card) will be held at 11:30 a.m., followed by the second semi-final match between Kang Dong-gung (SK Rent-a-Car) and Semi-Signer (Welcome Savings Bank) at 2:30 p.m. The winner of the semi-final match will face off in the best-of-seven series for the prize money of 100 million won at 8 p.m.
