[News] 6 months after its Launch, how is PBA-LPBA doing?
It has already been 6 months since the PBA (Professional Billiards Association) and its very first global tour PBA-LPBA launched, with the slogan of “billiards player as a proud job.” After successfully finishing its 1st TOUR from the 5th TOUR, it has now begun its 6th TOUR. Professional Billiards is gaining popularity day by day, and the “SK rent-a-car PBA-LPBA Championship” has started on 16 December at the Sono Calm Goyang in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do.
Despite the problems with the players’ suspension, as soon as the TOUR started, the long-cherished desire of Korean Billiards society, it became more and more popular. As the 6th professional sport event of Korea, it is getting settled and stabilized.
With the professional golf tour PGA (Professional Golfers Association) and LPGA (Ladies Professional Golf Association) as role models, PBA is planning to hold 8 PBA Division 1 TOURs, 10 PBA Division 2 Tours (PBA DREAM TOUR), and 8 LPBA TOURs. PBA Division 1 TOUR consists of regular tours with total prize money of KRW 250 million and winner prize money of KRW 100 million per each tour, and the final tour with total prize money of KRW 400 million and winner prize money of KRW 300 million, and only the top 32 ranked players can participate in the final tour. PBA Division 2 TOUR consists of 10 regular tours with total prize money of KRW 40 million and winner prize money of KRW 10 million per each tour. In the PBA Division 1 Tour, there are 120 registered players and 8 wild card players, total 128 players, and in the Division 2 Tour, total 243 players are participating.
PBA TOUR for the ladies, LPBA TOUR consists of 7 regular tours with total prize money of KRW 30 million and winner prize money of KRW 15 million per each tour, and the final tour with total prize money of KRW 40 million and winner prize money of KRW 20 million. 4
In the case of LPBA, the number of players is nearly half as low as that of the PBA players. Until the 4th LPBA TOUR, there were 60 registered players and 4 wild card players, total 64. From the 5th LPBA TOUR, the entry was expanded to total 68 players, with expanding the number of wild card players to 12 players. Although the size of LPBA is quite smaller than the PBA’s regarding its players and performance, it is said that it definitely has the potential for becoming popular like the LPGA. PBA Secretary General Young-jin Kim explained that “we are expecting a bigger growth in the LPBA as the performance of the LPBA players is getting better and better, and there are sponsors showing interest in sponsoring individual players.”
If the TOUR gets settled, and if it is possible for the PBA to be keep up its good work and popularity, it is more likely for the professional billiards to achieve success. LPBA player Han-sol Seo said “before PBA, I had to have other jobs to earn my livings such as part-time jobs. Now, however, I can earn my living by just playing billiards.” Things cannot be always perfectly done at its first step, but with about 20,000 billiards clubs and 1,200 million billiards family, the first step forward of professional billiards seems quite successful.
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