‘Superman’ Cho Jae-ho (NHK Card) and ‘Billiard Queen’ Kim Ga-young (Hana Card) were the brightest stars of the PBA this season.
At the Professional Billiards Association’s (PBA) 2023-24 Season Professional Billiards PBA Golden Q Awards Ceremony, Cho and Kim shared the grand prize.
This season, the two players shined as the best players representing the PBA and LPBA. Jo Jae-ho won the seventh tour (Haiwon Resort Championship) of the season and also topped the SK Rent-a-Car Jeju Special Self-Governing Province PBA World Championship 2024 on July 17, taking home 200 million won in prize money, making him the top player of the season with a total prize pool of 319 million won. Kim Ga-young also had the best year of her career, topping the LPBA World Championship after winning the 5th Tour (Huons Championship) and earning KRW 125 million in prize money.
In particular, Cho was honored with the Grand Prize for the second consecutive season after winning the World Championship last season. In addition to the grand prize, he also won four other awards with teammate Kim Hyun-woo, including Best Doubles, Best Singles, and the Zebisco Prize Money Ranking.
“I feel great. I was surprised to win four titles, so I’m grateful and will continue to work hard. My goal for next year is to win one more World Championship. I need to win quickly on the regular tour to take the pressure off,” he said. “This season, I felt impatient because I was slow to win on the tour, but after winning the Hi-One, I felt at ease.”
Kim had one of the best seasons in LPBA history, taking home a whopping five awards. In addition to the Grand Prize, she also won the Best Everage, Bank Shot, Zebisco Prize Ranking, and Team League Grand Prize. Kim’s performance as the night’s emcee continued during the awards ceremony.
In her acceptance speech, Kim said, “I don’t know if there is another day when I feel so honored as a player.” She added, “The individual prize is great, but winning the team league, which I couldn’t have done alone, was an emotional, honorable, and miraculous experience. I am so grateful and will continue to run hard next year.”
Also recognized at the ceremony were Semi Signer (Tourkiye/Huons), who impressed by winning the season opener (Blue One Resort Championship in Gyeongju), and World 사설토토 Championship semifinalist Han Ji-Eun (Eswai), who was named Rookie of the Year. Jang Ga-yeon (Huons) was named Young Star and Javier Palazon (Huons) won the Bank Shot and Averages awards alongside Kim Ga-young.
Crown HaeTae’s Baek Min-ju and Lim Jeong-sook won the Women’s Doubles and Eswai’s Hwang Duk-hee and Lee Woo-kyung won the Mixed Doubles. Kim Ye-eun (Welcome Savings Bank) won the women’s singles award.
The Best Dressed Award went to David Martinez (Crown HaeTae) for his unique outfit made of ‘Korina’ fabric and Jeon Ae-Rin (Huons) for her blue dress.
In addition, Special Assistant to the President Bang Ki-song and President Lim Jeong-wan were awarded for their contributions to the Games, SY (Eswai) Group was awarded for its sponsorship, and Dong-hwan Lee, the mayor of Goyang, was awarded for his contribution to the local government.