▲ Choi Sung-won of Huons
Huons, the champion of the second round of the professional billiards (PBA) league, halted Hana Card's winning streak and threw the race for the top tier in the third round wide open.
Huons defeated Hana Card with a set score of 4-0 on the fourth day of the Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League Pohang Tour 2026-2027 held at the gymnasium of Pohang Stadium in Gyeongsangbuk-do.
With this victory, Huons improved to 3 wins and 1 loss, tying with Hana Card and leaping to third place by edging ahead in set average (1.857) compared to Hana Card (1.500).
Riding a three-game winning streak immediately after a loss in their opening match of the third round, Huons gained momentum, while Hana Card suffered its first defeat after starting the tournament with three consecutive wins.
In the first set men's doubles, Huons's Robinson Morales (Colombia) and Kang Dong-gong overcame a 10-6 deficit against Murat Naci Coklu (Turkey) and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam), capitalizing on their opponents' slump to secure a dramatic 11-10 come-from-behind victory.
In the second set women's doubles, Seo Han-sol and Choi Ji-min kept Kim Ga-young and Kim Jin-ah at bay 9-6 to seize the early initiative.
Maintaining the momentum, Huons's Choi Sung-won exploded with an 11-point high run in just three innings against Coklu in the third set men's singles, winning dominantly 15-7.
Morales and Kim Ye-eun then wrapped up the match by claiming a 9-5 victory in the fourth set mixed doubles.
Meanwhile, High1 Resort and Harim both secured hard-fought victories following grueling seven-set battles, firmly maintaining their lead at the top with four-game winning streaks.
High1 Resort was pressured after conceding the fifth and sixth sets consecutively to the Breakers, but Lim Sung-gyun overcame Oh Sung-uk 11-4 in the final seventh set to win 4-3.
Harim also triumphed 4-3 in a close match against Woori Financial Capital, as Nguyen Phuong Linh (Vietnam) won 11-7 in the seventh set.
The two teams, tied with 4 wins and no losses and possessing identical set averages, were separated by their point averages.
High1 Resort (1.293) edged past Harim (1.283) by a razor-thin margin to claim the top spot.
In other matches, Crown Haitai defeated SY 4-1 thanks to Kim Im-gwon's two-win performance to extend its winning streak to two matches (5th place), while NH Nonghyup Card narrowly beat Welcome Savings Bank 4-3 to escape a two-game losing slump (6th place).
(Photo provided by PBA, Yonhap News)
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