Korea
, of course, now has no rivals in Asia. ‘Billiard prodigy’ Jo Myung-woo (25, Silk Road C&T/Seoul City Hall) won the first Asian championship in four years following the first domestic competition this year.
Jo Myung-woo recently reached the top at the 11th National Land Court Central Cup 2023 National Billiards Competition and the 11th Asian Carom Championships held at the Youth Gymnasium in Yanggu-gun, Gangwon-do. On the 22nd, he won the 3-Cushion Cup of the Asian Championships with the Carom 3-Cushion Men’s General Division on the 22nd.
Last year, Cho Myung-woo was the best star of Korean billiards. Jo Myung-woo, who won the first championship in his life at the 2022 Sharm El Sheikh 3-Cushion World Cup held in Egypt in December, swept the 2022 Lausanne Billiard Masters under the age of 25 and the 2022 Donghae National Billiards Competition, and won the ‘2023 Korean Billiards Federation New Year’s Celebration and Awards Ceremony ’ won the prize of honor.
The upheaval continues this year as well. Jo Myung-woo took the top spot in the National Territory Central Championships, which was the first national competition of this year, where all domestic masters were dispatched, and also took over the Asian Championships, where the three Asian powers competed, including Korea, Vietnam, and Japan. He won 2 championship titles in 3 days.
Above all, he showed off his overwhelming performance at the Asian Championships. Jo Myung-woo, who reached the round of 16 by winning 3 consecutive wins from the group stage, won all 7 matches until the final. In the average score of the tournament innings, Jo Myung-woo scored a whopping 2.222 points.
In particular, in the final match, Cho Myung-woo faced Vietnam’s Tran Thanh Luk and won 50-20 in 16 innings. He averaged 3.125 runs in his final innings. The scene where he succeeded in making a fantastic throwback with a huge pull-up in the Nangu arrangement was the highlight, and he showed off his one-up skill by performing hot showtimes several times.
In an interview with CBS No Cut News, Cho Myung- “In the final of the Asian Championship held in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam in 2019, I was ahead 38-22, but I couldn’t score a single point and lost 38-40,” he said. showed a smile
Four years ago, Jo Myung-woo led Tran Quyet Trien (Vietnam) by 16 points in 15 innings in the final of the 10th tournament. However, as mistakes continued, the home crowd cheered fervently, and the opponent suffered a major defeat. Cho Myung-wu, who was ranked 27th in the world at the time, was pushed out of experience by Tran Quet Trien, who was ranked 6th.
However, in this tournament, they took revenge for the defeat against the rising powerhouse Vietnam. Cho Myung-woo said with a proud expression, “The Asian Championships, which were held in four years, were held in Korea.”
Now, Jo Myung-wu’s eyes are on the top of the world. Cho Myung-woo said, “I reached the top of the World Cup last year, but I am desperately hoping for it as my goal was to win the world championship when I first started playing billiards.” In addition, there are not many challenges to be solved until the World Team Championship. Jo Myung-woo said confidently, “There are a lot of things to do, but we have to do it one by one slowly.”
Cho Myung-woo is considered the next-generation ace who will threaten world-class players. Last year, in the final of the World Cup, he confirmed his potential by beating Daniel Sanchez (Spain), the “Four Kings,” to win. Currently, Jo Myung-woo is ranked 10th in the world and is the only Korean player to be in the ‘Top 10’ with Kim Haeng-jik (31, Jeonnam Billiards Federation), the ‘billiards genius’ who is 6th.
Currently,
the world’s strongest is Dick Jaspers (Netherlands), who is called the ‘human tape measure’. While ‘Emperor’ Tobjorn Bromdal (Sweden) fell to 8th place and was clearly aging, Jaspers was close to 100 points away from world No. It maintains the undisputed number one in the world. In response, Jo Myung-woo expressed his strong aspirations, saying, “It’s still not too early to compare to world-class players,” but “Of course, I want to surpass Jaspers, who is currently number one.” 안전놀이터
To this end, Jo Myung-woo trains hard for 9 to 10 hours a day. When asked, “Isn’t it difficult?”, Jo Myung-woo laughed, “It’s a habit now, so it’s okay.” As it is known, Jo Myung-woo started his career at the age of 8 under the influence of his father, who runs a billiard room, and was known as a child prodigy early on. Cho Myung-woo says, “Now, billiards in my life is inseparable like a thread and a needle.”
Maybe that’s why my girlfriend is also a billiards player. He is Yong Hyun-ji (TS Shampoo, Pura Chicken), who is 3 years younger than him and plays an active role in PBA. Jo Myung-woo said with a happy face, “If the locals ask during training, they will tell you, but now it’s been 4 years since we dated.”
In particular, Cho Myung-woo, who was able to win this competition thanks to his lover and friends. “Hyeonji, Jeong Ye-seong, and Kim Hoe-seong and other juniors cheered me on a lot when I played against Vietnamese players in the semifinals and finals of the Asian Championships,” said Jo Myung-woo.
Following last year, Jo Myung-woo Jo has been active as an icon of Korean billiards this year as well, conquering the Asian stage. It remains to be seen whether he will conquer his lifelong goal of winning the world championship and become a billiards prodigy recognized by the world.