MANILA—Jasmine Ouschan, the green-eyed, blonde pool bombshell, finally realized a childhood dream when she turned back South Korea’s Kim Ga-young, 10-6, Friday to put away the Women’s 10-Ball crown before a raucous gallery that embraced her as its own at the Atrium of Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas.
Ouschan, who started playing the game as a 6-year-old in her parents’ pool parlor in Klagenfurt, Austria, battled back from a 0-4 deficit against the game Kim to finally add a world title to her glittering collection of championships that also includes a World Games gold medal.
“I have been waiting for this my whole life,” the 24-year-old Ouschan told the gallery during the awarding ceremonies.
“I still can’t believe it—winning (my first world title) in the pool capital of the world, in front of my best fans in the world.”
The overflow gallery rallied behind Ouschan after Filipino defending champion Rubilen Amit was seen off by Kim in the Final Four, 9-5. Ouschan rewarded the crowd’s efforts by staying behind to sign autographs and pose for pictures way after the title match.
The Austrian won $20,000 from the total kitty of $75,000, with Kim settling for the $9,000 runner-up’s prize.
For a while, it looked as if it would be a breeze for the curvy Kim, another crowd-darling who lost the lag but won the first four frames with ease—two of them in an abbreviated manner—because of crafty shotmaking.
But when Ouschan got her chance after Kim flubbed what seemed like an easy safety play on the blue 2 in the fifth frame, the Austrian touched off a seven-rack streak that included two break-and-runouts.
It was a disappointing defeat for Kim, who couldn’t convert on several chances after being kept on her seat for so long by Ouschan, who ended the tournament unbeaten in nine matches.
Still, Kim will assume the world’s No. 1 ranking in place of Britain’s Allison Fisher when the new rankings come out next week.
The pint-sized Amit, meanwhile, saw the end of her reign against Kim, who advanced to the final with a 9-5 Final Four victory.
The humble 29-year-old Amit settled for $5,000 (about P215,000) for finishing in a tie for third with Kelly Fisher.
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