Lee edges Baek Min-ju in shootout, faces Lee Mi-rae for quarterfinal spot
Lee Seung-hee, a 16-year-old billiards player, advanced to the round of 16 at the LPBA for the first time in her professional career.
Lee defeated Baek Min-ju in a shootout Wednesday in the LPBA round of 32 at the Crown Haitai PBA-LPBA Championship, the fourth tour of the 2026-2027 pro billiards season, held at PBA Stadium in Kintex, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
After dropping the first set, Lee won the second 11-8 in 11 innings to level the match, then closed out the third 11-5 in just six innings to take a 2-1 set lead. Baek fought back to square the match by taking the fourth set 11-7 in a grueling 22-inning frame, forcing a shootout. In the shootout, Baek failed to score on both her first-inning attempt and her second-inning break shot, allowing Lee to convert on her return shot and end the lengthy contest.
Born in 2009, Lee is the youngest player in the LPBA this season. She picked up a cue for the first time in February last year, spent roughly a year in practice, then earned her professional card by passing the LPBA tryout in April. She subsequently withdrew from high school to pursue a full-time playing career.
Lee had reached the round of 64 at the second tour of this season, the High1 Resort Championship. At this tournament she worked her way through the qualifying round, defeating Lee Jae-hyeon, Im Jeong-suk and Kim Jeong-mi in succession before beating Baek in the round of 32 to set a new personal best. She will face Lee Mi-rae on Thursday at 3 p.m. for a place in the quarterfinals.
In other LPBA round-of-32 results, Park Jeong-hyeon — winner of the third tour's SY Championship — joined Kim Sang-a, Yong Hyeon-ji, Han Ji-eun, Lee Sin-yeong and Lee Hwa-yeon in advancing to the round of 16.
In the PBA round of 128, held alongside the LPBA matches, Kim Yeong-won swept Jo Byeong-uk 3-0 to advance to the round of 64. Daniel Sanchez of Spain defeated Go Jun-seo 3-1, and Choi Seong-won beat Lee Chan-hyeong 3-1. Nguyen Tran Thanh Tao of Vietnam, winner of the previous tour, was eliminated in the round of 128 after falling to Nam Sang-min 1-3.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
