The trademark of PBA player Shin Dae-kwon (45) is a mustache. The combination of his short hair and chubby eyes makes his mustache stand out. Thanks to his mustache, seeing him smile during a match gives you a ‘macho’ vibe. In fact, he puts his strong loyalty and friendship with his seniors and juniors as the top priority. Shin Dae-Kwon is a mid-level player for his age, but his playing career is at the senior level. He started his career at an early age and now his 27th year has already passed. It is only this year that his face, which has continued his long career, has become familiar. After reaching the semi-finals of the 5th tournament in the first year of the professional league, the result was the bottom line for a long time due to injuries. However, Shin Dae-kwon fired the signal of revival this year. After advancing to the semi-finals in the second PBA match in July, he showed his presence by participating in the team league as a pinch player.
Register as a player right following high school graduation
Since I was a student, I probably hang out with the players.
“I have never regretted the decision to choose billiards in my entire life.”
Shin Dae-kwon has a very strong attachment to and pride in billiards. Life itself is billiards.
He went to the billiard room with his friends to make use of the time he had left following taking the combined test for admission in his third year of middle school. The charm of billiards that I first encountered was fatal.
“It was so much fun to catch a cue and play billiards for the first time. From that day on, I almost lived in the billiard room every day without missing a day. I think I had a bit of talent, enough to score 500 points with Suzy with 4 pitches in 6 months. The gap between me and my friends quickly widened.”
Even following going to Banpo High School in Seoul, his access to the billiard room continued without missing a day. From the beginning, he had no interest in studying, so he only immersed himself in billiards. Fortunately, his father was a billiards lover, so there was no opposition from his family, which gave him the opportunity to focus on billiards.
As he entered his sophomore year of high school, he began to use three cushions in earnest. It was an opportunity to naturally hang out with top-level players as regulars at the billiard hall near the school.
“At that time, billiard halls with international-style battalions were not common, but a battalion was set up in a billiard room near the school, where top-class amateurs gathered. From their point of view, they say that a young high school student hits the 3-cushion, so I can’t help but look at it cutely. Thanks to this, I started to open my eyes to billiards with the experts.”
Perhaps it was strange that his skills were increasing to one chwiwoljang, so one of his acquaintances introduced him to the Korea Billiards Hall, which is located in Yeongdeungpo Market in Seoul. It was a billiards club that might be said to be the ‘mecca of billiards’, where amateur experts, including players, gathered. Shin Dae-kwon went to the Korea Billiards Center every day by bus following class.
It was a wonderful experience to watch the top players play. Since I can go to work every day and hang out with senior players who are my uncle or higher, my billiards skills have literally improved. As soon as he graduated from high school, he registered as a player in the Seoul Billiards Federation and started his playing career.
“Since I was young, I never thought regarding the status of a billiards player who was not guaranteed a decent fixed income. It was just as good. My father also gave me great support. At that time, it was enough to buy Adam Q, which was used by senior Kim Jeong-gyu, who was famous for ‘General Toli’, and gave it to him as a gift. Even in those days, it was rare for a person to play billiards at a young age like me, so I think I received the love of my seniors.”
A scam from a billiards acquaintance
4 years into semi-retirement due to shock
Shin Dae-kwon was lucky enough to continue his relationship with billiards even in the military. As a special feature of the boot camp, he wrote down the history of billiards players, and the battalion commander, who usually enjoyed billiards, noticed this. When he was assigned to his own battalion and became a private, the commander of the recruit training battalion summoned him. Shin Dae-kwon, who suddenly moved out, became a soldier who manages the billiard room with Jeong Hoon-byeong.
Once the ‘billiards player’ mission was given, like the ‘tennis player’ who manages the tennis courts in the unit, setting up a billiard table was a big task. In the end, the seniors who heard his complaint helped purchase a used billiard table, house cue, billiard ball, etc.
“When I was discharged, the chief sergeant said, ‘I’ve never seen a person who was discharged from the military while enjoying a comfortable life like you’,” he said. Now that I think regarding it, I was pretty lucky. I was able to practice billiards as much as I wanted in my spare time.”
When Shin Dae-kwon entered the age of marriage, his father thought regarding opening a billiards hall, because he thought it would be impossible to use a business card for a billiard player without a fixed income. He needed someone to help his inexperienced son and partner with. I asked a player I used to know to open a fairly large billiards hall near Gangnam Station in Seoul. And Shin Dae-kwon immediately started preparing for the wedding. After that, the accident happened.
“As a result, my father was completely deceived by an acquaintance he knew well. In the narrow billiards world, all my personal connections are connected, and I never thought that the acquaintance would commit such a scam. He was just getting married, so he was shocked. He had a hard time even seeing the pool table following that.”
He was half-retired over the next four years. He had to find work at random once for a living for his family. He did not participate in local competitions. There was no great enthusiasm. It was a time when the cost of feeding a child was more desperate than billiards.
“However, I participated in most of the competitions hosted by the Seoul Billiards Federation. I got along so close to my seniors and juniors, so it was like going to a social gathering and participating in the competition. I didn’t go to competitions with the goal of winning a prize.”
After defeating Jaspers, he escaped a four-year hiatus
A swamp of sluggishness once more due to an elbow injury
The reason Shin Dae-kwon found his passion for billiards once more was the 2015 Ho Chi Minh World Cup 3-Cushion Tournament. He persuaded his wife to go to Vietnam for a family trip to cool off and participate in the World Cup.
In that competition, Shin Dae-kwon became the main character of the blue. He defeated Dick Jaspers (Netherlands), the ‘Four Great Kings’, following a close battle leading up to a penalty shootout in the round of 32, in spite of his four-year hiatus. The content of the game was also phenomenal. Both players scored 40 points in just 12 innings. It was a crazy performance that averaged more than 3 points.
“Actually, I never thought I would beat Jaspers. However, the underworld Jaspers missed the first ball of the match. As I prepare to hoot, the booing of the Vietnamese crowd grows loud enough to shake the gym. It must have been the reaction that Jaspers was more interesting than me, who was a ‘trickster’. When the back-mouth match was successful, they gave a big round of applause. I made it to the round of 16, but I lost to Typhoon Tastemir (Turkiye), and in the end, he won. Typhoon even joked with me right following winning the title, saying thank you for stopping the champion Jaspers.”
After the Ho Chi Minh World Cup, Shin Dae-kwon threw off the followingeffects of being scammed and focused on his career once more. But his grades did not support him. When he only went to the national competition, the game did not work out well and the situation was repeated. On the other hand, in the Seoul Billiards Federation competition, good results continued to enter the prize room every time. Then, when the PBA was launched in 2019, he found a new opportunity and knocked on his professional door.
“There were two attempts to go professional, but I was frustrated, but I decided to turn professional this time with the expectation that it would be a little different. But at first, I was a little bit proud of myself. I was pushed out of the rankings, so I mightn’t get into the designated player first and had to go through a try-out.”
Shin Dae-kwon did not achieve clear results following reaching the semifinals of the ‘Mediheal Championship’ in the first season. He suffered an elbow injury while playing with his two daughters, which left him in a swamp of sluggishness for two years.
“After the injury, each shot was so painful that tears came to my eyes. Later, playing billiards was scary. After a year of constant physical therapy, I got a little better, but last year and last year, I barely survived through a try-out to stay in the first division.”
A successful revival this year
“I want to become an unforgettable player for the rest of my life”
Shin Dae-kwon, who was freed from injury, began to find a strong side during his amateur days. Last July, in the quarterfinals of the ‘Hana Card Championship’, he defeated Philippos Casidokostas (Greece), the ‘left-handed wizard’, and succeeded in advancing to the quarterfinals. It was the fourth round in four years.
He succeeded in a full-fledged revival and joined the team league 3rd round as a substitute for SK Rent-a-Car instead of Kang Dong-gung, who was infected with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). He captured the attention of billiards fans with his impressive performance following winning his team league debut.
“Actually, contrary to the concerns of those around me, I came here with the mindset that I was not too nervous and enjoyed it. The team members were also colleagues I knew well, so there was nothing awkward regarding it, and I was not unfamiliar with it because I played a lot of broadcasting matches. Throughout the team league competitions, I think I was able to help the team by continuing to think, ‘You don’t have to be ashamed of me alone’.”
In fact, following Shin Dae-kwon was confirmed as a replacement player, the words of a junior who said, “Are you back now?” kept lingering in my mind. Why did he express that he did not leave the world of billiards, but he came back?
“I suddenly realized. When I suddenly appeared on the news following not being seen in the media for a while, I thought it might be considered a comeback to others. I was reminded of the common truth that grades are important.”
As he showed an active role in the team league, encouragement from other club owners and officials continued. Especially when he was immersed in the game, the words that he felt his unique charisma came to my heart the most. He was proud of showing Shin Dae Kwon’s unique sticky billiards.
“Even in the days of the federation, it was a bit awkward when top-notch players competed with me. Even if you are a strong player who usually boasts a high win rate, your win rate is only 50% when you play once morest me. It’s not easy to win if you stick with me, and it’s inconvenient because you lose if you’re with me. When I heard that I felt charismatic while going through the team league, I think I got a sense of pride that I showed my old self.”
Senior player Shin Dae-kwon said, “I want to become an unforgettable player for the rest of my life.” It is also a goal that can only be achieved by maintaining steady results like this season.
One of the most important qualities he should have as a player is ‘personality’.
“If the player’s every move is shown correctly, more and more people will be interested and like them. I’m sure that will eventually become the driving force behind the development of the gentleman’s sport, billiards. As in the past, the environment in which seniors and juniors rolled around to build friendship and loyalty and learned character is completely different from the current environment where parents take care of them.
By Jeong Wan-joo, staff reporter wjchung12@hankooki.com
