Noh Byung-chan, Defeats Kang Ho Kim for First PBA Quarterfinal

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Noh Byung-chan, a 2020 Pro Player Selection alumnus, defeated ‘powerhouse’ Kim Jae-geun to reach his first quarterfinal of the professional stage, where he will face Wimaz of Turkiye in the final. Defending champion Choi Sung-won knocked out Vietnam’s Q Nguyen and will meet Choi Won-joon, who beat Kim Hyun-woo, in the quarterfinals.

Noh Byung-chan (41) defeated Kim Jae-geun in straight sets 3:1 (15:10, 13:15, 15:11, 15:4) in the quarterfinals of the ‘NH Card PBA Championship’ on Thursday night at the Kintex PBA Dedicated Stadium in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do, on the sixth day of the 23/24 season.

In the third set, with the score tied at 1-1, Noh took advantage of a late 10-point run to win 15:11 in six games. In the fourth set, he scored the first four points of the game and continued to score steadily to close out the set 15:4 in eight games. Noh showed off a highly sensitive attack with an average of 2.320.

Noh was selected 18th overall out of 23 players in the 2020 Pro Player Draft and made his PBA debut in the 20/21 season.

However, he failed to retain his spot in the top flight after falling in the Round of 128 in all five tournaments of the 20/21 season. However, he made a comeback through coursework.

His best result so far was the quarterfinals of Game 3 (TS Champubae) in the 22/23 season, a record he has now broken.

Choi, who had an 11-match winning streak going into the match, dropped the first set to Q Nguyen but bounced back to win the next three sets 3:1 (8:15, 15:5, 15:8, 15:3) to extend his winning streak to 12 matches.

Choi Sung-won (46) rallied from a 1:1 deficit to win the third set 15:8 (8 games) with 14 points in games 2-6. The fourth set ended in just four innings. After missing the opening ball, Choi Sung-won opened the offense with five points in the second inning and then scored eight points in the final four innings to close out the match.

Choi Won-jun (45), who hasn’t won a title since winning the third round of the 19/20 season (Welcome Savings Bank Cup), defeated Kim Hyun-woo 3:0 (15:10, 15:12, 15:13). In particular, Choi Won-joon came from behind to win the first and second sets with seven points. In the third set, he closed out the match with a high run of eight points and a bank shot at 13:13 of the final nine. This is Choi’s second quarterfinal appearance in two seasons after reaching the quarterfinals in the sixth round of the 21/22 season.

Wimaj (37) of Turkiye defeated Ngo Dinh Nai of Vietnam 3:0 (15:14, 15:2, 15:9) with an average of 2.368. Wimaj took the first set at 10:14 with 5 points and easily won the second set 15:2 in 6 games. In the third game, Ngo used a high run of six points to take a 9:7 lead after four games. However, Wimadzu responded with four points in the 스포츠토토 next inning to make it 11:9 and then scored the remaining four points in the seventh inning to seal the match.

This is WIMAZ’s first final appearance in four tournaments after finishing as runners-up in the second edition (Ansan Silk Road).

The quarterfinals will be played between Noh Byung-chan-Wimaz (13:00) and Choi Sung-won-Choi Won-joon (16:00).