2007 Guinness Asian 9-ball Tour in Kaohsiung / 2007 GUINNESS 亞洲九號球巡迴賽高雄站
◎By Fang-ju Lin ◎Photos by Chung-Hui Pao
The top pool tournament in Asia, 2007 Guinness Asian Nine-ball Tour, has been held in Kaohsiung City for three years in a row. This year, it was held at the Kaohsiung Business Exhibition Center from May 18-20. Kaohsiung was the second leg of the tournament; the first one was in Jakarta, Indonesia. Following legs include Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia, Singapore, Shanghai - China, and Bali - Indonesia. The Kaohsiung leg was sponsored by ESPN STAR Sports, and co-sponsored by The World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Organizing Committee (KOC), as well as Kaohsiung City Government. The total purse of each leg amounts to US$50,000. The tour includes 24 players with last year's world champion, Ronato Alcano, also on the players list. Six players from Taiwan - Fong-Pang Chao, Ching-Shun Yang, Chia-Ching Wu, Jung-Lin Chang, Yu-Lun Wu and Hui-Chan Lu - also seek to win the championship in this leg.
The "Pool Capital", Kaohsiung City, is a lucky venue for Taiwanese players. Three championships and three second-place titles have fallen into Taiwanese players' pockets in the last four international pool contests in Kaohsiung, including WPA World Pool Championship 2005 and Asian Nine-ball Tour 2005-2007. Pool is one of Taiwan's strongest sports and is an official sport in the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung. Kaohsiung City and KOC, a big supporter of pool games, wish Taiwanese players could do their best and win championships in the World Games. Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Wen-Lung Cheng attended the pre-game press conference. He encouraged the public to come and watch the live games, and especially wished the players from around the world good luck. luck.
Fong-Pang Chao and Ching-Shun Yang, who are from Kaohsiung, did not fail everyone's expectations. In the last round of games on the 20th, they successfully made it to the final. "Stone Cold Killer" Fong-Pang Chao and "Billiard Ball Successor" Ching-Shun Yang competed in the final game. Yang beat his master Chao, 11:6. It is the second time in the past three years that he managed to keep the championship title in his hometown, Kaohsiung. Yang shared his excitement with the crowd. He said, "I am thrilled to win the championship in my hometown and my country!"
The first and second place titles were seized by Kaohsiung-born players Ching-shun Yang and Fong-Pang Chao respectively. Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Tai-san Chiu attended the game and granted his congratulations and the purse of US$1,500 to Yang. Asian 9-ball Tour is the only game in Asia that accumulates winning points. The top 10 players with the most points will be able to compete in the World Pool Championship in Manila this November.
◎文／江戶川 明 ◎攝影／鮑忠暉
亞洲最頂級的撞球賽「2007 GUINNESS亞洲九號球巡迴賽」已連續3年在高雄市舉行，今年賽事從5月18日至20日在高雄工商展覽中心進行，是亞巡賽的第２站，第１站在印尼雅加達，接下來將在馬來西亞吉隆坡、新加坡、中國上海、印尼巴峇島等站競技。高雄站由ESPN STAR Sports主辦，2009世運會組委會基金會(KOC)及高雄市政府合辦，而每站高達美金５萬元的獎金，更吸引來自亞洲24位撞球好手齊聚一堂，包括去年世界球王阿爾卡諾，以及６名台灣在地選手：趙豐邦、楊清順、吳珈慶、張榮麟、吳育綸以及呂輝展共同爭奪分站冠軍。
「撞球之都」高雄市可謂是台灣選手的幸運之地，四次在高雄市舉辦的國際撞球賽事，包含「2005世界花式撞球錦標賽」及2005至2007「亞洲九號球巡迴賽」，台灣選手就奪下三個冠軍及三個亞軍的優異成績。2009世界運動會在高雄市舉行，我國奪金強項的撞球也是正式競賽項目，相當支持本項運動的KOC及高市府皆希望屆時台灣選手能一樣發揮實力，摘下冠軍，高雄市副市長鄭文隆17日特別出席賽前記者會，除了歡迎市民朋友來現場觀戰，更為這次參賽的世界級好手們加油。
兩位高雄子弟趙豐邦與楊清順也不負眾望，在20日最後一天賽程中，相繼晉級，打入決賽。冠軍戰由「冷面殺手」趙豐邦對上「撞球之子」楊清順，比賽結果出爐，楊清順以11比６擊敗師父趙豐邦，３年第２度將冠軍榮耀留在家鄉高雄。楊清順也與現場爆滿的民眾分享他的喜悅，他說：「能在我的國家、我的家鄉拿下冠軍，當然很開心！」 冠亞軍皆由高雄子弟楊清順、趙豐邦分佔，高雄市副市長邱太三也特地到場觀戰，並頒贈分站冠軍獎金美金1萬5千元給楊清順，並表達恭賀之意。亞洲九號球巡迴賽是亞洲唯一的計分賽，排名前十名的選手將可保送參加今年11月在馬尼拉舉辦的世界花式撞球錦標賽。