“I did it too. “I hope many people take on the challenge.”

Lim Hye-won (27), a ‘self-taught’ powerhouse in the women’s professional billiards LPBA (LPBA), was cheerful despite losing in the final. 

Although she was disappointed to miss out on the trophy, she smiled and said, “Now I can sleep well.”

 Just two years after her debut, she is proud of herself for having reached the summit by standing on her own.

The winner of the 2023-2024 PBA-LPBA 7th Tour High1 Resort Championship held at the Grand Ballroom of High1 Resort in Jeongseon, Gangwon-do on the 29th was Japan’s Ayako Sakai (Hana Card). 

However, Korean women’s professional billiards will likely remember runner-up Lim Hye-won as the main character. 지울프-토토

Lim Hye-won, who debuted as a professional last season, is literally an unknown player. 

He fell in love with billiards while playing pocketball at the age of 20, and after playing four-ball billiards

he started playing three-cushion four to five years ago. 

His best professional performance was 17th in the High1 Resort competition last season, and he reached the finals for the first time.

In the finals (best of 7 matches) on this day, he raised expectations by winning the first set

but lost the 2nd to 5th sets and stopped at the top. 

The average (0.532), the success rate of one cue, was behind Sakai (0.813). 

After the game, he said, “I felt that I was lacking in the basics and system. “

I think he will have to hit more delicately in the future,” he said.

There is no reason to be intimidated because there is nothing lost. 

Rather, the harsh final stage ceremony is stimulating greater efforts. He said, “I was so nervous that I made mistakes in controlling the thickness and speed of the ball. 

I was very nervous as the game was being broadcast on TV. 

But next time, I won’t hit like I did today,” he pledged.

Lim Hye-won’s surprise appearance shows the reality as well as the potential of Korean women’s professional billiards. 

Currently, there are about 160 female professional billiards players. 

Among them, there are quite a few players like Lim Hye-won who did not start out as professional players from a young age

but learned about billiards as an adult and entered the professional league. 

Choi Hye-mi (Welcome Savings Bank), who won the last competition, is also a latecomer.

Lim Hye-won, who worked ‘part-time’ at a billiards hall and grew into a practical person by competing with customers for over 12 hours

received short lessons from professional player Lee Chung-bok (High1 Resort) and other formal classes. 

Hyewon Lim, who lives in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, does not have a fixed training ground. 

Instead, her boyfriend, who had high-level skills, became her coach and training partner.

I practiced by going from billiard room to billiard room with her friend,” he explained. 

In addition to billiards, she also works two jobs, including a part-time job at a cafe, so she was not able to train sufficiently ahead of this competition.

Nevertheless, with the competitive spirit of a highly toxic weed trained in the field

she defeated major stars such as Throng Piavi (Blue One Resort), Natsumi Higashiuchi (Welcome Savings Bank), and Bomi Kim (Nonghyup Card) in this competition. 

Lim Hye-won said, “There is not yet a large base of female professional players. 

I think everyone can have hope because even a player like me made it to the finals,” she said.

Luck followed me in this competition. He, who won the club competition three times, said,

There is still a lot to learn on the professional stage, and it is clear that the gap (with top players) is large.

I also had a lot of luck this time,” he admitted. However, he emphasized, “The professional stage is not a place where only high-ranked players can compete.”

This kind of confidence is the greatest harvest of all. Hyewon Lim said, “Through this competition, I thought, ‘I can go this far. 

I thought, ‘I have become a real player.’ “Now I want to focus solely on billiards as a professional player,” he said. 

He also presented tasks that need to be improved, saying, “We will move away from billiards that rely on intuition and improve the basic skills and systems.” 

You should also look for a coach to receive more systematic and professional billiards lessons.

Lim Hye-won said, “At first, my parents were against me pursuing a career as a billiards player, but now they actively encourage me. 

I really want to win for my grandmother and younger brother. 

I will practice harder so as not to disappoint the fans’ expectations,” he promised. 

His move to break the existing stereotype through a different path from the elite course is attracting attention.