Kim Young-won (18), dubbed the "rising star" of the PBA, and billiards influencer Hacker (44) will meet on the PBA stage for the first time, brought together by the sport that first connected them.
At the PBA round of 64 of the 2026-27 season's third tour — the SY PBA-LPBA Championship — held Thursday at the PBA Stadium in Kintex, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Kim defeated Jang Nam-guk 3-0 in sets. Hacker also advanced to the round of 32 by beating Han Gyu-sik 3-1. The two will face each other in the round of 32 at this tournament.
When Kim first took up billiards, the hall he frequented was the one Hacker operated. Kim has consistently expressed gratitude toward Hacker, calling him "someone who helped me a great deal during the difficult early days when I was just starting out."
This will be their first meeting in an official match. After winning the second tour — the High1 Resort Championship — Kim expressed confidence, saying, "In practice matches, I think our win rate is about 50-50. If we meet on the PBA stage, I'll show what I can do."
Hacker weighed in back in May, calling Kim "the hottest player in the PBA right now — clearly not an easy opponent," but adding, "Even so, I think Young-won still has more to learn. I'll show him what I'm made of." The match between Kim and Hacker is scheduled for 11 p.m. Friday.
Beyond the Kim-Hacker matchup, top-ranked PBA players including Jo Jae-ho, Semih Sayginer (Turkey), Choi Sung-won, Burak Hashas (Turkey), Jo Geon-hwi, David Zapata (Spain) and Murat Naci Coklu (Turkey) have also advanced to the round of 32. Nguyen Phuong Linh (Vietnam) dominated Shin Dae-kwon 3-0 in sets, posting an average of 4.091 — tied for third-highest single-match average in PBA history.
In the LPBA round of 32 held the same day, Han Seul-gi defeated Kim Ga-young 3-2 in sets to advance to the quarterfinals, sinking a remarkable 12 bank shots in a dramatic victory. Kim Min-a, Kang Ji-eun, Park Jeong-hyeon and Baek Min-ju also booked their spots in the quarterfinals.
On Friday, the sixth day of the tournament, the PBA round of 32 and the LPBA quarterfinals are scheduled to take place.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
