Professional billiards has emerged from a long break and begins to paint a fresh picture with cue sticks on the new canvas of the 2026-2027 season.
The Professional Billiard Association (PBA) announced the start of the new season by holding the “2026-2027 PBA-LPBA Tour Media Day” at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 12th.
Attending the event were players who heated up last season: Daniel Sanchez (Spain, Welcome Savings Bank), Kim Ga-young (Hanacard), Kim Young-won (Harim), Jung Soo-bin (NH Nonghyup Card), Oh Sung-wook, and Srong Phavi (Woori Financial Capital). They shared their resolutions for the new season.
The opening tournament of the new season, the “Woori Financial Capital PBA-LPBA Championship 2026,” will be held from the 16th to the 24th at the PBA Stadium in KINTEX, Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. The prize money is 100 million won for the PBA and 50 million won for the LPBA.
[PBA provided. Resale and DB prohibited]
Sanchez, who won two titles last season, joked, “My goal is to win all nine tours and the World Championship this season, but I feel it’s impossible,” before emphasizing, “I want to aim for the team league championship. There’s nothing more valuable than winning the team league since joining the PBA.”
Kim Ga-young, who swept four wins in the LPBA last season and reigned as the “absolute top player,” also showed confidence, saying, “If possible, I want to win every tournament.”
The determination of challengers looking to stop their dominance is fierce.
[PBA provided. Resale and DB prohibited]
When asked if she could stop Kim Ga-young’s dominance, “Cambodia Express” Srong clenched her fist and replied, “I remember beating Kim Ga-young before, so I think I can do even better. I am confident of showing a surprising performance next season that will amaze the fans.”
[PBA provided. Resale and DB prohibited]
Jung Soo-bin, who showed impressive growth last season ranking 10th, also set her first championship as her goal for the new season. Regarding being called “Kim Ga-young’s killer” due to her 3-1 head-to-head record against Kim, Jung said, “It feels good but also uncomfortable. I think I need to work harder to beat Kim Ga-young from my current position,” revealing a humble yet strong will.
Kim Young-won, the 18-year-old who became the “youngest world champion” last season and stood at the center of a sensation, said, “I want to achieve more than three wins. I felt my stamina drop significantly in the latter part of the World Championship final, so I did a lot of stamina training this off-season.”
Oh Sung-wook, who returned to the top tour spectacularly after a record of three consecutive wins in the Dream Tour (second division), declared, “I will approach as a challenger.”
[PBA provided. Resale and DB prohibited]
The new season adds excitement with several rule changes. The LPBA seeding method has been changed: instead of giving seeds to the round of 64 as last season, the top 96 players will receive seeds for the round of 128. Referee rules have also been improved: when a player scores with a bank shot, the referee will shout “Bank” before announcing the accumulated score to help spectators understand intuitively.
[PBA provided. Resale and DB prohibited]