Over the last six months, Chieh-Yu Chou of Chinese Taipei has put together a pretty impressive resume.
After earning a silver medal for her runner-up performance at last year’s World Games in Birmingham, Ala., she won the second-annual Predator World Women’s 10-Ball Championship in Austria, besting fellow countrywoman Tzu-Chien Wei in the finals with a commanding 9-3 performance.
Playing in the championship match of this weekend’s Kamui WPA Women’s World 9-Ball Championship, she somehow managed to top that performance, taking advantage of a couple of opportunities left by Allison Fisher early and blanking her opponent, 9-0, at Harrah’s Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. Chou, who earned $30,000 for the win, becomes the first female competitor to hold the world titles in both 9-ball and 10-ball since Kelly Fisher in 2012.
“I’m very excited and it’s like a dream,” said Chou after the match. “The last 16 I thought I was going to lose and I won 9-8. I feel very lucky. I focused and continued my game so I’m really happy.”
Fisher and Chou with the referee, John Leyman｜©Pro Billiard Series
After Chou climbed onto the scoreboard first with a victorious safety exchange in the first rack, the Fisher had a chance to even the score but missed a sharp cut on the 9 ball. Her opponent clicked the ball in to take a two-game lead, then broke and ran twice to increase her advantage to 4-0. Fisher returned to the table in the fifth game when her opponent failed to pocket a ball on the break but couldn’t find a clear shot at the 1 ball and opted to exchange safeties, which Chou took advantage of when her opponent left an open shot. Chou cleared the table then broke and ran twice more to increase her lead to a commanding 7-0.
“Today I was very comfortable so I was very focused,” she said.
That’s putting it mildly. She used another victorious safety on the 6-ball to climb onto the hill then used a tight cut shot on the 1 ball in to the side pocket to break to break-and-run once more and close out the championship match in a lightning fast 49 minutes.
©Pro Billiard Series
“If you had asked me at the beginning of the week if I would like to be in the final, I would be quite pleased with it,” said Fisher. “No one wants to lose nine nil, but I couldn’t do anything about it.”
The victory ended the surprise run by Billiard Congress Hall of Famer Fisher, who had become a bit of a sentimental favorite after reaching the quarterfinals and pulling off an upset of young Filipino Chezka Centeno Saturday night. Playing another rising young star in Russia’s Kristina Tkach in the semifinals, the two competitors split the first 10 games until Tkach rattled the 5 ball in the corner pocket. Fisher cleared the table, then used a safety to force her opponent into a foul and tacked on a break-and-run to pull within one rack of the win.
After Fisher failed to pocket a ball on the break, the Russian attempted to pocket the 1 ball in the side and missed. After Fisher followed that miss with a foul after attempting to kick at the ball, Tkach worked her way through the balls and, with the 9 ball hanging near the corner pocket and the 6 and 7 balls further up the rail, elected to try a combination shot and missed. Fisher approached the table and began pondering her next shot but, failing to realize she had already used her time extension, was forced to drop, aim and fire at the ball as the shot clock was about to expire. She missed and Tkach began clearing the table but missed a makeable 9 ball in the corner pocket, allowing Fisher to rattle the ball into the corner pocket for the victory and a ticket to the finals.
2nd Semi: Tkach and Fiaher｜©Pro Billiard Series
Chou reached the finals by erasing an early deficit to South Korea’s Seo Seoa in the first semifinal of the day.
After taking an early 2-1 lead, Chou missed a jump shot on the 3 ball in the fourth rack. Seoa took full advantage, clearing table and winning the next five games to grab a 6-2 advantage. Standing at the table in the ninth rack, the South Korean attempted a safety on the 1 ball that left an opening which Chou walked directly through, winning three straight to cut the deficit to 6-5 before missing the 5 ball in the 12th rack. Seoa tacked on another win but left another opening in the next rack that allowed her opponent to see the 3 ball after a safety. Chou connected with the ball, then watched as the cue ball knocked the 9 ball into the corner pocket to pull within a game again.
“When I saw that ball, I thought there might be chance,” said Chou. “When I made that I said, “okay, my luck is coming. That was a turning point.”
Chou broke and ran twice to take the lead then used a safety exchange on the 1 ball to close out the match.
Seo Seoa of Korea, we could expect this young player, for bright future｜©Pro Billiard Series
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周婕妤開年紅 女子9號球世錦賽奪冠
2023 KAMUI 世界女子9號球錦標賽在經過四天119場比賽之後在美國大西洋城的 Harrah’s 渡假村圓滿落幕，”大眼妹 ” 周婕妤以 9:0 完封英國名將 Allison Fisher 奪下冠軍。繼去年9月奧地利·克拉根福 (Klagenfurt) 的世界女子10號球錦標賽後，今晨再摘下 Kamui 世界女子9號球冠軍，成為繼柳信美與林沅君之後，第3位在女子9號球世錦賽奪冠的選手。
首場半決賽由周婕妤對上韓國選手徐序亞 (Seo Seoa)。開場後周婕妤取得 2-1 領先，徐序亞把握住周婕妤在第四局 3號球沒跳進的機會不僅扳平比數，並拿下接下來的五局比賽，取得 6-2 領先。第九局徐序亞在 1號球上留下可進攻的局面，周婕妤連贏三局將分差縮小到 6-5，接著在第12局的 5號球出現失誤讓徐序亞再下一城 (7-5)。徐序亞在第13局的 3號球打了一記安全球，周婕妤一顆星解到 3號球後，母球碰撞到 9號球並落入底袋。至此之後徐序亞無法挽回劣勢，最終周婕妤以 9-7 逆轉徐序亞闖進決賽。年僅20歲的韓國選手徐序亞本屆比賽表現出色，亦是未來不可小覷的新秀。
©Pro Billiard Series
周婕妤的對手將是在第二場半決賽以 9-5 擊敗俄羅斯年輕新星 Kristina Tkach 的名人堂成員，英國名將 “毀滅女公爵” Allison Fisher。Tkach 開賽後取得 2-0 領先，但 Fisher 連拿兩局扳平比分，緊接著 Tkach 又再將比數拉回兩局差 (4-2)。每當 Tkach 將比數拉開 1-2 局領先後， Fisher 便緊追其後地扳平，Tkach 第11局 5號球的失誤讓 Fisher 逮住機會首度以 6-5 超前比數。緊接著 Tkach 在第14局 9號球的關鍵失誤的情況下斷送了其反撲的機會，終場 Fisher 以 9-5 取得比賽勝利，晉級決賽。
Fisher 比球過後在決賽中取得衝球權。衝球後，雙方在1號球進行一輪攻防，周婕妤精準漂亮地跳進長距離 1號球後清光台面，取得1:0領先。Fisher 在第二局9號球發生失誤，因而錯過扳平比數的機會。周婕妤接下來兩局衝球後清台 (勝衝制) 將比數拉開到 4:0。第五局周婕妤衝球後無球落袋讓 Fisher 重回場上，兩人在1、2號球上有了一番攻防，Fisher 抓住周婕妤解 2號球後留下的開局面，但在打進 2號球後母球在 3號球位置上並不理想，安全球並未成功的情況下讓周婕妤再次上場並拿下第五局後，又再次連下兩局，將領先優勢擴大到 7-0。最終周婕妤在神速般地 49 分鐘內以 9-0 完封 Fisher 奪下冠軍並收穫3萬美元獎金。周婕妤在時隔四個半月後拿下個人的第2座世界冠軍，也成為自 2012年 Kelly Fisher 以來第一位同時獲得9號球與10號球世界冠軍的女子選手，更成為台灣首位雙料世界冠軍女子撞球選手。
©Pro Billiard Series
“如果你在本周開賽初時問我是否願意進入決賽，我會非常高興；然而沒有人願意已被完封之態輸掉比賽，但我對此無能為力。” Fisher 賽後表示。
周婕妤賽後則說道: “原以為我將輸掉16強的比賽，但卻以9-8贏得比賽，覺得我很幸運。現在的我非常興奮，感覺如同做夢一般”