Vietnamese players dominate men's draw; Kim Ga-young chases 20th LPBA title
The professional billiards tour has produced a different champion at every event this season, and the fifth leg is set to continue that trend.
The 2026-2027 season's fifth tournament — the "Jigeum Jal Saneun Bangbeop ZGM NH NongHyup Card PBA-LPBA Championship" — runs nine days from Sunday to Oct. 26 at the PBA Stadium in KINTEX, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province.
Both the men's and women's draws have crowned a different champion at each of the four tournaments held so far this season. On the PBA side, Jo Geon-hwi (Welcome Savings Bank), Kim Young-won (Harim), Nguyen Tran Thanh Tao (Vietnam) and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam/Hana Card) have each claimed a title.
The LPBA has been equally competitive, with Kim Ga-young (Hana Card), Sruong Pheavy (Cambodia/Woori Financial Capital), Park Jeong-hyeon (Harim) and Jeong Su-bin (NH NongHyup Card) each lifting the trophy. Whether any player can become the first double winner of the season is one of the key storylines heading into the event.
In the men's draw, the rise of Vietnamese players has been striking. A Vietnamese player has reached the final in three consecutive tournaments since the second leg, and they have won the last two events back to back. At the fourth tournament, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen defeated David Martinez (Spain/Crown Haitai) to become the first Vietnamese player to record two career PBA wins.
On the women's side, Kim Ga-young — who holds 19 career LPBA titles — will make another bid for her 20th. Also worth watching are whether Sruong, who has been eliminated in the round of 64 at the last two events, can bounce back, and how players in their 20s such as Park Jeong-hyeon and Jeong Su-bin perform.
The tournament opens Sunday with a qualifying round at 11 a.m., followed by the LPBA round of 128 at 4:20 p.m. the same day. The official opening ceremony is scheduled for Monday at 12:30 p.m. The LPBA final will be held Oct. 25 at 10 p.m., while the PBA final — carrying a prize of 100 million won ($74,600) — is set for Oct. 26 at 9 p.m.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
