World No. 1 Cho Myung-woo of the Seoul Metropolitan Government team claimed the men's carom three-cushion title at the 2026 Korean Billiards Federation President's Cup, presented by Soop.
Cho defeated Song Yun-do of Hongseong High School's affiliated correspondence high school 50-36 in the final held Saturday at Yanggu Sports Town in Yanggu-gun, Gangwon Province.
The final drew considerable attention as a showdown between a national team veteran and a rising star — both representing the present and future of Korean three-cushion billiards. Cho, the reigning world No. 1, faced Song, who grew up idolizing him as a youth player and has since earned his own place on the national team.
The victory marked Cho's return to the top of the President's Cup for the first time in seven years since 2019. He first won the tournament in 2017 at the age of 19 years and five months, setting a record at the time as the youngest winner of a domestic adult three-cushion national championship. Saturday's win was his third overall title at the event, following victories in 2017 and 2019. Jeong Seung-il of the Seoul Billiards Federation and Lee Beom-yeol of the Siheung City Sports Council shared third place.
"I have many good memories in Yanggu, so I prepared hard with the strong desire to win this time," Cho said. "In my last two tournaments in a row, I faced teenage players in the finals. Both Kim Do-hyeon and Song Yun-do are truly skilled players, and I think you can never let your guard down for even a moment when playing against young competitors."
In the women's three-cushion open division, Heo Chae-won of the Seoul Billiards Federation defeated Park Se-jeong of the North Gyeongsang Province Billiards Federation 25-15 in the final. Park had won seven consecutive titles at federation-organized events heading into the match.
In the pocket nine-ball open division, Ha Min-uk of the Busan Metropolitan City Sports Council and Kwon Bo-mi of the Gangwon Province Billiards Federation took the men's and women's titles, respectively.
yjc@heraldcorp.com
