The PBA Team League’s Huon’s Healthcare Legends have acquired ‘Korea’s 3-cushion sign’ Choi Sung-won and ‘Mr. Magic’ Semi Seiginer (Turkiye). The team’s sudden rise from last place in the regular season to the top of the league has been impressive.
The Professional Billiards Association (PBA) held the ‘2023 PBA Team League Draft’ on the afternoon of the 23rd at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul, where teams nominated players for the season.
In particular, last season’s bottom-ranked Huons used the first round’s first pick on “Korea’s 3-cushion sign,” Choi Sung-won (46), who was only protected by Javier Palazon (Spain), Kim Bong-cheol, and Kim Se-yeon in the draft.
They then used their second-round pick to select “Mr. Magic” Seiginer. In the third round, they drafted Jeon Ae-lin, who quickly became a dominant force.
With the second pick in the first round, Hi One Resort selected “Veteran” Lee Chung-bok (49), and then added a “Vietnamese Duo” in the second and third rounds with Nguyen Duc Anh Chien (39) and Nguyen Phung Linh (29).
Welcome Savings Bank, which started its first round selection with Frederic Coudrone (BEL), Birole Wimaz (TUR) and Kim Ye-eun as reserves, added Kim Lim-kwon (42) in the second round, Lee Sang-dae (42) in the third round, Higashiuchi Natsumi (JPN) in the fourth round and Choi Hye-mi (28) in the fifth round to complete its seven-player roster.
SK Rent-a-Car, which designated all but Lee Woo-Kyung as protected players, ended the draft without any additional additions, while Crown Hae-Tae added Oh Tae-Jun (3rd round, 2nd pick) and Kim Tae-Kwan (3rd round, 3rd pick) to its roster in order to transplant Korean “young blood.
Hanacard added ‘tourniquet powerhouse’ Murat Nasi Choklu (4th in Round 2) and ‘Japanese 3-cushion powerhouse’ Ayako Sakai to become the ‘strongest female team’ alongside Kim Ga-young and Kim Jin-ah. In Round 3, upstart Eswai selected Lee Woo-kyung (25) to join Han Ji-eun and Han Seul-ki.
In the fourth round, Uhm Sang-pil (Blue One Resort) and Kim Byung-ho (Hana Card), who struggled last season, returned to their parent teams with the second and fourth picks, respectively, while Welcome Savings Bank, which had the first pick, kept Choi Hye-mi.
NHL Card used the third pick to select last season’s PBA Rookie of the Year Antonio Montes (Spain), and after several teams withdrew their picks, newcomer Eswiga added Zheng Aing Vu (Vietnam) to its roster.
In the first three rounds of the PBA Team League Draft, the team with the fewest protected players had priority, followed by the last-place team in the previous season’s regular season. In the fourth round, the top teams from the previous season’s regular season were selected in order. New teams had the last pick in each round.메이저놀이터
Choi Sung-won, who was selected with the first overall pick in the draft, said at a press conference after the draft event, “You don’t have to worry about the poor performance of the Hawks last season. I chose to go pro to show that I am still strong. I will show you something great.”
Han Ji-eun, who was selected by the new club SY Bazar, said, “I’m worried about the way the game is played in sets, but I think I can compete with the senior players if I go through a certain adaptation period. I’m confident.”
The PBA Team League is scheduled to begin in early August after the roster is finalized. Prior to that, the PBA will hold a “2023-24 Season PBA-LPBA Tour Media Day” at the Korea Press Center on March 7, ahead of the opening game of the PBA-LPBA Championship at Blue One Resort in Gyeongju.