Kim faces Lee Seon-young for a finals berth — can she finally shed her runner-up curse?
Kim Bo-mi defeated women's professional billiards powerhouse Kim Ga-young to keep her bid for a first career title alive.
Kim Bo-mi beat Kim Ga-young 3-1 (11-8, 11-9, 2-11, 11-4) in the LPBA quarterfinals of the 2026-2027 season's fifth tour event — the Jigeum Jal Saneun Bangbeop ZGM NH Nonghyup Card PBA-LPBA Championship — held at the PBA Stadium at Kintex in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, on Friday.
Kim Bo-mi has been competing since the LPBA's inaugural season but has yet to win a title. She has reached the final three times, finishing runner-up on each occasion. Most painfully, in the 2023-2024 season World Championship final against Kim Ga-young, she lost in a comeback defeat after coming within a single point of the title.
Her teammate Jung Su-bin, who claimed her first career title at the preceding Crown Haitai Championship, used her acceptance speech to wish Kim Bo-mi a victory at the next event.
Kim Bo-mi will face Lee Seon-young in the semifinals. Lee, who turned professional through the 2024-2025 season tryouts, reached her first career semifinal after rallying from two sets down against Lee Marie to win three straight sets in the quarterfinals.
On the other side of the draw, early LPBA standouts Lee Mi-rae and Lim Jeong-suk will contest the other semifinal berth. Lee Mi-rae, the runner-up at the previous tour event, edged out Park Jeong-hyeon (Harim) 3-2 in a tight match, while Lim Jeong-suk swept Kang Yu-jin 3-0.
In the men's PBA round of 32, held alongside the women's event, Kang Dong-gung defeated Lutfi Cenet of Turkey 3-0 (15-11, 15-3, 15-7) to advance to the round of 16.
Kim Young-won also swept Eom Sang-pil 3-0. David Martinez of Spain, Jo Geon-hwi, Lee Chung-bok, David Zapata of Spain, Nguyen Tran Thanh Tao of Vietnam, Oh Tae-jun and Lee Seung-jin also advanced to the round of 16.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
