Goyang: it's Martínez against Quoc Nguyen for the title tonight
Afternoon all. The PBA men's semi-finals at the Crown Haitai Championship finished at the KINTEX PBA Stadium in Goyang earlier today, Korean time. Both went 4–2. David Martínez will play Quoc Nguyen in the final, which is due at 9pm in Korea. That's 1pm here, so it may be going on as you read this.
Martínez 4–2 Cho Geon-hwi
Cho had beaten Martínez 3–1 in their only previous meeting, in last season's World Championship quarter-finals. He started better again today. Billiards & Sports has the set scores:
- Set 1: Cho 15–11 (11 innings)
- Set 2: Martínez 15–3 (9 innings)
- Set 3: Martínez 15–10 (5 innings)
- Set 4: Cho 15–7 (5 innings), starting with a run of eight
- Set 5: Martínez 15–13. Cho made three in the 10th inning to level at 13–13, and Martínez scored the last two points
- Set 6: Martínez 15–0 in two innings, with a break-off run of eight and the last seven straight after
That 15–0 ended it. Martínez missed the previous tour stop for the birth of his first child. Per Billiards & Sports, this is his first final at this event and his first tour final since he won the Hana Card Championship about fifteen months ago. He plays for the Crown Haitai team at the Crown Haitai event, so the hosts have a reason to cheer.
Quoc Nguyen 4–2 Noh Jong-hyun
Noh, who has been on the tour since the PBA began, was playing his first semi-final after beating Kim Jun-tae over the full distance. He took Quoc Nguyen to six sets. Vietnamese outlet Nguoi Dua Tin has the set scores:
- Quoc Nguyen 15–12
- Quoc Nguyen 15–7
- Noh 15–14
- Noh 15–10
- Quoc Nguyen 15–9
- Quoc Nguyen 15–11
Noh won the third and fourth sets to level at 2–2, and Quoc Nguyen won the next two. Nguoi Dua Tin says the winner gets 100 million won. Results will be on the PBA's own channels as soon as the final is done.
Jung Su-bin already lifted the LPBA title overnight, 4–2 over Lee Mi-rae.
Snooker: national champions crowned around the world
UAE Cue Sports has a list of this weekend's national snooker finals:
- Denmark: Daniel Kandi 5–0 Alfred Melbye. That's his tenth national title
- Ireland: David Morris 7–3 Ryan Cronin, for his sixth
- New Zealand: Mark Canovan 6–3 Joseph Conchie, for his fifth
- Italy: Gianmarco Tonini 5–2 Marco Palmieri. His third in a row and fifth overall
- USA: Renat Denkha 5–4 Hasanain Alsultani, for his third straight title
- Bulgaria: Viktor Iliev 5–4 George Petrunko, keeping his title
- Canada: Edward Ling 5–4 Cheukyin Kwan, his first national title
- Singapore: Bernard Tey Choon Kiat 4–2 Marvin Lim Chun Kiat, after losing the first two frames
- Latvia: Filips Kalnins 5–0 Nikita Bazilevichs
- France: Niel Vincent 5–4 Nicolas Mortreux
Coming up
The Goyang final is next, and the result will be in tonight's roundup.
— Reggie
Feature image: “Billiards and snookers” by Derbeth, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC BY 2.0.
