Standing in the arena at the conclusion of the women’s Alfa Las Vegas Open, South Korea’s Seo Seoa didn’t hold the championship trophy as much as she cradled it.
“I am really happy,” she said. “This is my first champion title.”
The 21-year-old has reason to be excited, having endured a final two days of play that included taking down reigning World Women’s 9-Ball champion Chieh-Yu Chou in straight sets in the quarterfinals, then surviving the semifinals against Indonesia’s Silviana Lu. Seoa may have saved some of her best play for last, coming from behind to defeat Australia’s Meng-Hsia Hung in three sets at the Rio All-Suites Hotel and Casino Monday night.
The Australian drew first blood in the opening set, taking advantage of a scratch and missed 1 ball by her opponent to build a 2-0 lead. The South Korean was able to climb onto the board in the third rack after her opponent scratched on the break but Hung stole the next game thanks to a successful jump shot on the 1 ball after a push out to increase the lead back to two games. Hung allowed Seoa to hang around tie the set when she fouled in the fifth game while attempting to tie up two object balls then missed a combination shot in the following rack but was able to use a sharp cut shot on the 2 ball and a table-length shot on the 3 ball to clear the table and secure the first set, 4-3.
Women’s Final｜©Pro Billiard Series
“She played very good in the first set but I was thinking, it’s okay because it’s three sets,” said Seo. “I was thinking to try hard and stay focused.”
After Hung again won the opening rack in the second set, Seoa tacked on two wins of her own thanks to her opponent failing to land a ball on the break in the second game then leaving an opening after a safety attempt on the 8 ball in the following game. Hung tied the match at two games each after Seoa scratched but the South Korean capitalized on another misplayed safety and a missed 3 ball by her opponent to secure the set, 4-2, and tie the match.
“That’s the turning point,” said Hung of the missed shot. “I didn’t take my time to think about how to run out the table.”
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The wheels really started to come off for Hung in the deciding set. After Seoa failed to pocket a ball on the break in the first rack, the Australian appeared to be in position to secure the win but missed the 5 ball in the corner pocket, allowing Seoa to return to the table and climb onto the scoreboard. Hung experienced a similar fate in the next rack when she missed the 6 ball and in the third game when she pushed the 2 ball wide of the mark. Each time, Seoa cleared the table and increased her lead.
“I lost a little bit of concentration and I wasn’t so sure,” said Hung. “And she played really well.”
Hung had one last chance in the fourth game but missed the 4 ball. With the object ball at one side of the table and the next shot at the opposite end, Seoa cleanly pocketed the ball and drew the cue ball backwards between the 6 and 7 balls for a shot on the 5 ball, then closed out the rack for the win and let out a joyous shriek in triumph.
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Seoa reached the finals by taking advantage of a handful of safeties and unforced errors to edge past Lu in straight sets in the semifinals, 4-1, 4-2.
Hung had a bit more of a fight against Bulgaria’s Kristina Zlateva. After losing the opening set, 4-2, the Australian held a 3-1 advantage in the second set until her opponent snagged a win then used a table length one rail kick in of the 7 ball and a long cut of the 9 ball to tie the set. After Hung missed the 4 ball in the set-deciding game, Zlateva had an open table but overplayed position on the 5 ball. While she tried to pocket the object ball and hold cue ball positioning for a shot at the 6 ball that was at the same end of the table, the Bulgarian missed and handed her opponent the 4-3 win.
Hung was dominant in the deciding match, winning four straight racks to seal the victory and a spot in the championship game.
©Pro Billiard Series
While the women completed the final day of their 64-player event, the men were preparing for the start of the WPA World 10-Ball Championships which are scheduled to begin Tuesday at 11 a.m. local time.
This 128-player event, which was won last year by Poland’s Wojciech Szewczyk, will begin with 17 matches, including a battle of fellow Filipinos Roberto Gomez and Lee Vann Corteza. Other notable matches of the day include two-time Alfa Las Vegas Open champion Wiktor Zielinski taking on Billiard Congress of America Hall of Famer Alex Pagulayan and American Skyler Woodward facing 2019 World 10-Ball champion Ko Ping-Chung. Reigning World Pool champion Francisco Sanchez Ruiz will face Denmark’s Mickey Krause while Szewczyk meets Saudi Arabia’s Khalid Alghamdi.
Matches can be watched on Billiard.TV and on World Billiard TV, the official YouTube channel of CueSports International. A schedule of televised matches will be posted daily on the Pro Billiard Series and CSI Facebook and Instagram pages.
Watch Live on World Billiard TV YouTube channel, Billiard TV and at tv.kozoom.com
Brackets and scores can be found at https://probilliardseries.com/2023-men/2023-alfa-las-vegas-open/
https://probilliardseries.com/2023-women/alfa-las-vegas-women-open/
Follow @probilliardseries on Facebook, @probilliardseries on Instagram or @PBilliardSeries on Twitter.
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韓國新生代 徐序亞斬獲首座國際賽冠軍 洪夢霞收穫亞軍
21歲的徐序亞 (Seo Seoa / 서서아) 上個月在大西洋城所舉行的女子9號球世錦賽中收穫季軍，事隔一個月後的她在拉斯維加斯舉起了自己首座的國際賽冠軍。
洪夢霞在半決賽以 2-1 戰勝保加利亞選手 Kristina Zlateva 晉級決賽，而她的對手將是 “小魔女” 金佳映的學生之一， 在另一場半決賽中以 2-0 擊敗 Silviana Lu (印尼) 的韓國 21歲新生代選手徐序亞。
決賽開始後，洪夢霞 (Bean Hung) 靠著對手徐序亞 (Seo Seoa) 在1號球的跳球犯規與解到 3號球後母球洗袋，在第一盤以 2-0 領先。徐序亞則把握住洪夢霞第三局衝球后母球洗袋犯規的自由球，扳回一局。洪夢霞 在 push-out 後乾淨俐落地跳進 1號球，並將比分拉回到兩局領先。徐序亞在洪夢霞第四局衝球無球落袋後接手上場，打進 2-8 組合球後，2號球大角度切球未能進袋，洪夢霞的故意犯規試圖將 5、6號球形成組合球，徐序亞獲自由球上場後，打進 4號球後漂亮地做到 5號球並接著清光台面，比數追回至 2-3。
洪夢霞第六局擊打 2-10 組合球時因出桿秒數造成犯規，徐序亞回到球桌後順利拿下該局並追平比數 (3-3)，洪夢霞在下一局 1號球安全球上，母球擊打1號球後，利用 2-5 集團球組形成阻擋。徐序亞的解球犯規不僅使她丟掉該局，也失掉了首盤。
©Pro Billiard Series
徐序亞在第二盤首局解到 6號球後母球落入底袋，讓洪夢霞率先拿下第一局，徐序亞靠著洪夢霞第二局開球後沒有球落袋以及第三局未能打進 8-9 組合球將比分追平 2-2。在接下來的兩局，徐序亞利用對手在安全球以及 3號球的失誤，以 4-2 拿下第二盤。前兩盤結束後，雙方打成 1-1 平手，而根據賽前發布的 2023年微調的新規則，在第二階段雙方如 1-1 平手則將加賽進行第三盤，如第三盤再形成 3-3 平手，則進行點球大戰決勝。
徐序亞在決勝盤第一局的衝球未果，洪夢霞上場接手後，打丟了長距離的 5號球，將機會給回到了對手，徐序亞因此拿下該局，率先得分。洪夢霞在第二局 6號球的失誤與第三局 2號球的失誤讓徐序亞一下子將比數拉開到 3-0 並且聽牌的局面。第四局，4號球與7號球挨著，為顧及 5號球的角度，洪夢霞打丟了 4號球，接替回到場上的徐序亞擊打4號球並讓母球躲到了 7號球後面，洪夢霞選擇挑球，但 4號球未能跳進並留下了開房球局，這也成為洪夢霞在場上的最後一擊，徐序亞順利清台，打進最後一顆10號球後的徐序亞開心地舉高自己的球桿並大聲歡呼慶祝著自己的勝利。而這也是徐序亞所贏得的首座國際賽冠軍。
“那個失誤是個轉折點，我沒有時間去想如何結束該局。我不太確定，但感覺有點注意力不集中。洪夢霞說道。
徐序亞 (Seo Seoa) 賽後表示: “她在第一盤表現得很好，但我心想著並告訴自己，沒關係，三盤制，並試著讓自己持續地保持專注。”
©Pro Billiard Series
Women Division 女子組
【SF 半決賽】
Meng-Hsia Hung 洪夢霞 (AUS 澳洲) 2 – 1 Kristina Zlateva (BUL 保加利亞)
Silviana Lu (INA 印尼) 0 – 2 Seo Seoa 徐序亞 (KOR 韓國)
【Final 決賽】
Meng-Hsia Hung 洪夢霞 1 – 2 Seo Seoa 徐序亞
| Men Division 男子組 | |
| 簽表 Breakets | 賽果與即時比分 Results & Live scores |
| Women Division 女子組 | |
| 簽表 Breakets | 賽果與即時比分 Results & Live scores |