In September, 17 year old Wang Ye became one of the most popular players in Chinese pool. In two important Chinese billiards tournaments in September, Wang Ye won the The JOY Cup Chinese Pool Open and finished second in the Women's Open Chinese Billiards event in Cheng Du. With these accomplishments, Ye has been nicknamed the “Princess of Chinese Pool”.
The JOY Cup Chinese Pool Open, which ended in Shijiazhuang on September 15, was an international tournament which saw players the likes of Gareth Potts, Johann Chua and Jeffrey Ignacio joined by China’s Yang Fan and Zheng Yubo.
In this mixed gender event, female players are given a one ball handicap against their male opponents. That handicap was more than enough for Ye to defeat Clint I’anson 13-4, Gareth Potts 12-11 and Liu Xin 13-8. After losing to Wang Peng 13-8, Ye then defeated Liu Chuang 13-4 and Zhang Kunpeng 13-6 before getting her revenge against Wang Peng 13-2
Ye then overcame Yu Haitao 13-11 in the finals for first place and a prize of 200000 yuan (just over $29,000 in USD).
Six days later, Ye finished second in the Women's Open Chinese billiards competition in Chengdu. On her way to the finals of this event, Ye eliminated World #1 Chen Siming in this event. Ye led Liu Shasha 4-1 in the finals, but eventually lost 9-7.
Wang Ye began to learn billiards at the age of seven and started to participate in the JOY Chinese Pool Tournaments in 2010. In 2017, Wang Ye entered the Hengshui no.1 high school, China's most famous high school.
"My dream is to become the No.1 female player of Joy Chinese Pool." Wang Ye said. “But at this stage, I definitely want to finish my studies and try to get into a good university.”
Chinese Pool has become a very popular sport in the world. From October 13 to 19, JOY Chinese 8-Ball International Open will be held in Los Angeles with a total prize of $37,700. The Champion will receive not only a $15,000 prize, but also a spot at the Grand Final of the Joy Chinese Pool Masters.
