Eom Sang-pil, who defeated Jo Jae-ho, awaits in last eight
Kim Young-won, the PBA tour's rising star, defeated Belgian veteran Eddie Leppens to advance to the quarterfinals of the tour's second event of the season.
Kim beat Leppens 3-1 in sets (4-15, 15-4, 15-12, 15-13) in the round of 16 at the High1 Resort PBA Championship, the 2026-2027 season's second tour event, held Tuesday at the Grand Hotel Convention Tower of High1 Resort in Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon Province.
After dropping the opening set, Kim leveled the match by winning the second set by the same 15-4 margin, then held on through tight third and fourth sets to seal the victory.
Kim became the youngest world champion in PBA history last season but was eliminated in the round of 32 at the season opener — the Woori Financial Capital Championship — after losing to Kim Jae-geun. He bounced back in the second event to reach the quarterfinals, where he will face Eom Sang-pil. Eom advanced by defeating Jo Jae-ho 3-1 in the round of 16.
Kang Min-gu, nicknamed "Machine Gun," eliminated defending champion Daniel Sanchez of Spain 3-2 in sets. In a tightly contested fifth and deciding set, Kang led 5-3 heading into the third inning and delivered a five-point run to put the match out of reach, then finished off the remaining point in the fourth inning to clinch the win. Kang will open quarterfinal play Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. against Ngo Dinh Nai of Vietnam, the only remaining foreign player in the draw.
Kim Jun-tae of Harim and Shin Jeong-ju of Hana Card, both part of the tour's "30-something generation," also advanced to the quarterfinals.
The PBA quarterfinals begin Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., the eighth day of competition. At 10:30 p.m., Kim Ga-young of Hana Card and Sruong Pheavy of Cambodia will meet in the LPBA final, with the winner taking home prize money of 40 million won ($26,300). The LPBA final is a best-of-seven series.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
