sujjinjangs

On November 11, at the Kintex PBA Stadium in Goyang, 17-year-old Kim Young-Won emerged victorious in the 2024-2025 NH Nonghyup Card PBA-LPBA Championship men’s final, defeating “Autor” Oh Tae-Jun with a score of 4-1 (15-13, 15-5, 7-15, 15-12, 15-8). Born on October 18, 2007, Kim's victory at just 17 years and 24 days old makes him the first teenager to ever claim a professional billiards title, setting a new milestone as the youngest champion in PBA history.

Kim is not only the first player born in the 21st century to win a professional billiards title, but he also surpassed the previous youngest champion record held by “billiards prodigy” Kim Ye-Eun. At age 20 years and 11 months, Kim Ye-Eun won the SK Rent-a-Car Championship in July 2020, a record now broken by Kim Young-Won by three years, ten months, and twenty days.

With his victory, Kim received a prize of 100 million won (approximately $85,000 USD). He shared his plans for the future, saying, “My father and I talked about setting up a personal practice room.”

Kim was introduced to billiards in 2019, during his sixth grade year, when he first picked up a cue under the guidance of his father, Chang-Soo Kim (43). Recalling those early days, his father noted, “We tried different sports, but he didn’t show much interest. Billiards was different. Even with nosebleeds, he’d keep playing until I had to stop him.” His father further explained, “I told him, ‘I’m just an amateur, so you’ll need to learn on your own,’ and he improved his skills by studying techniques on YouTube.”

May 2023