Jeong Su-bin rises in women’s professional billiards

“Lazy perfectionist.”

That is how Jeong Su-bin of NH Nonghyup Card described herself recently at a billiards hall in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province. She stresses the importance of proper rest and even refers to her personality as “lazy.” For the 26-year-old professional billiards player, however, rest is a deliberate strategy to reignite her drive to pick up the cue again. Once she returns to the table, she practices for more than five hours, setting up the balls in the same positions again and again until each shot feels just right. That dedication took her from knowing nothing about billiards as a college student to joining the professional circuit and making a name for herself in just a year and a half.

On Nov. 5, Jeong defeated billiards legend Kim Ga-young, 42, of Hana Card, 4-3 in a tiebreaker during the round of 32 at the 2025–2026 LPBA Women’s Tour’s seventh event, the Happy People’s Rest Stop High1 Resort LPBA Championship. It was not her first win over Kim; Jeong also beat her in the round of 64 at the second tour event last season. In the single-match format, where the first player to reach 25 points wins, Jeong trailed 12-23 before mounting a dramatic comeback. She scored a high run of seven points in the 15th inning and added six more in the 16th to secure a come-from-behind victory. Reflecting on the match, she said, “So many people were watching that I just focused on playing without embarrassment, and luck happened to be on my side.”

This season, Jeong ranks third in average points with 1.025, behind only Kim Ga-young (1.158) and Cambodia’s rising star Srong Piabi, 35, of Woori Financial Capital (1.039). Her performance shows she is no longer merely a promising player but a rising star in her own right.

Jeong first encountered billiards in 2019 while working part-time at a billiards hall owned by a friend. Two years later, she began playing in earnest. “I had never played four-ball or pocket billiards, so I didn’t even know how to control the thickness of a shot. Still, playing billiards was incredibly fun,” she recalled. For Jeong, the sport’s appeal lies in its precision. “Even the slightest misalignment in posture or a tiny shift at the contact point can completely change the spin of the ball. Scoring exactly as you intend is exhilarating,” she said.

Determined to turn professional, Jeong made what she called a “bombshell announcement” to her parents and devoted herself entirely to billiards. Many nights, she returned home under dim streetlights after long hours of practice. Except for meals and attending her university classes, she spent more than eight hours a day at the billiards hall.

After about a year of intensive training, Jeong made her LPBA debut as a wildcard at the third event of the 2022–2023 TS Shampoo·Puradak LPBA Championship. In May last year, she was drafted by NH Nonghyup Card. Although she had originally planned a career in finance while studying statistics at Sookmyung Women’s University, she ultimately found success on a different path.

Jeong cites her height of 171 centimeters as one of her advantages. She rarely needs an extension cue, which allows her to maintain consistent weight and feel in her shots. She also attributes her ability to stay calm under pressure to her comeback victory against Kim Ga-young. Her secret to maintaining composure is accepting outcomes with a steady mindset. “Before every match, I repeat three phrases to myself, one of which is, ‘Even if I lose, sincerely congratulate my opponent.’ The other two are trade secrets,” she said.

Turning her hobby into a profession has naturally brought moments of pressure and self-doubt. Yet the growing number of sponsor patches on her uniform reminds her how far she has come. On Nov. 7, Jeong will face her teammate Hwang Min-ji, 24, for a spot in the quarterfinals. Aiming to surpass her personal best of reaching the semifinals, she said, “This year, I want to improve my weaknesses and make it to the finals. Ten years from now, I hope to be a top-tier player who wins championships as easily as eating a meal.”


고양=한종호기자 hjh@donga.com