<Interview> Seo So-Ah, No. 1 in Pocket Billiards in Korea and No. 6 in the World, reveals her intention to participate in many tournaments in Japan this year as well, asking for a lot of interest.

Seo So-ah, who is No. 1 in the Korean women's pocket billiards ranking and has risen to No. 6 in the World Pool Billiards Association (WPA) world rankings, will be awarded a billiards club in Incheon City.
We met at Boo. Seo So-ah has been busy since last month as she is preparing to practice overseas in Taiwan in order to participate in the Kansai Ladies Open to be held in January.
Seo So-ah was born in Gwangju. Since I was in junior high school, I have started using Pocket Bicycles on the recommendation of my parents and uncle.
Started Riyadh and moved to Seoul. He received a lot of support from Kim Ga-young, a professional billiards player who is currently active in the PBA. At that time, Korean artists such as Cha Yu-ram and Kim Ga-young represented Korea.
Pocket billiards players are recording good results on the world stage, and Seo So-ah also jumped into the world of pocket billiards. Three cushions have recently become a boom in Korea.
It entered the world stage at a time when pocket billiards was losing some of its popularity. After finishing tied for 3rd place at the 2023 Women's 9-Ball World Championship held in January last year, she won just one spot.
Meng-Hsia at the finals of "2023 ALFA LAS VEGAS OPEN" held in Las Vegas, USA on March
She won the championship by defeating Hung with a set score of 2-1.
In addition, "Asian Women's 9-Ball" held in Singapore
2022” won runner-up in the finals and has been invited to a famous tournament. Q.
Why did you choose pocket billiards instead of three cushions?
At first, the pocket billiards market was much larger. Pocket billiards are now more popular than the three-cushion market.
There was a large market for pocket billiards, and there were many opportunities for pocket billiards players to be active, but at a certain moment, the balance of power began to change to three-cushion players, and the momentum of pocket billiards dropped significantly.
Ta. The number of players has decreased considerably, and many have moved to the three-cushion position. So even though I had a lot of media exposure and was sponsored, I continued to play pocket billiards. Also
, I'm here because my pocket billiards results are much better. Q. Your results in overseas matches last year were very good. Do you have any tips for winning?
Two years ago was the time when COVID-19 infections were spreading, right? So there aren't many games and the players are taking a little break.
It was a great atmosphere. But then I started practicing more. And we had been preparing for it for a long time, but it exploded like this over the past year. 10 hours when you come to the club
was always there. There were times when I was there for more than 10 hours every day. Q. Last February, “ALFA LAS VEGAS”
OPEN” and became the first Korean women's pocket champion since Kim Ga-young won the US Open in 2016.
This is your first win as a billiards player in seven years. How do you feel about winning? I really wasn't thinking anything. Last year's goal was to advance to the top 16 of the world tournament. So just the door
I was confused, and after it was over, I thought again that I was definitely the winner. Q. Ranked 6th and within the top 10 in the rankings announced by the World Pool Billiards Association (WPA).
Now that you've entered, what are your goals for this year? Also, do you have any plans to participate in international competitions? We are preparing for another tournament in Las Vegas in February, and there will be an event for the top 160,000 women in the world. cost $100,000
We do it, but we continue to do it together. The dates for the matches like other world championships have not been decided yet, but once the dates are decided, I plan to participate in most of the world championships.
vinegar. My goal is to win the world championship, and my goal is to be in the top 5 in the rankings. Q. I'm going to Taiwan to practice next time, and I'll also meet the world No. 1 player, Chieh-YuChou.
Is that so? Are there any games scheduled? There are many strong pocket billiards players in Taiwan, is there a reason?
I haven't made any promises, but if I come to say hello, I'll probably meet you.
I think. When there is a small tournament in Taiwan, I have the intention of participating. Taiwan has had a very developed billiards culture for the past 20 or 30 years, so there are a lot of good players.
It seems like a lot of them have come out. And in Taiwan, there is no three-cushion, all games are pocket billiards, so I think there are a lot of talented players. Q.
I participated in the 56th All Japan Championship International Open held in Hyogo Prefecture, but unfortunately I was not able to win. Results
Was there a reason it wasn't good? Do you have any plans to participate in the tournament in Japan this year? To be honest, I went with the goal of winning. The reason for my defeat was that my preparation was a bit lacking.
I think. Last year, I competed in more than 10 games, so I was relatively lacking in practice and didn't get good results. This year, I decided to look at the tournament list in Japan again.
I plan to. We appreciate your support from our Japanese fans. Q. Last year, the Q event of the Korean Billiards Federation was held in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do.
At the festival, Seo So-Ah was the star, and there were also ordinary people who liked billiards. What was it like?
There were a lot of elementary school students, and there were also a lot of middle school students. question itself
The body was very new to me, and it was great to interact with passionate young children and their parents. There were many questions about things other than competition. The most memorable question was, ``Are you nervous during the match?''
However, during a match, I forget everything and only think about the match, so I think that's one of my strengths. We had a great time together, interacting a lot.
Lastly, he appealed, ``I will be participating in tournaments held in Japan frequently, so please show a lot of interest.''