Ex-billiards star found dead

Kim Kyung-roul

Former billiards star Kim Kyung-roul was found dead on the grounds of his apartment block in Ilsan, Gyeonggi Province, police said Monday.

Kim, 35, who won the 2010 3-Cushion World Cup, appears to have accidentally fallen from his 11th floor apartment.

An apartment security guard told police he saw Kim falling.

“I saw a man falling, and later it turned out to be Kim,” the guard said.

Police said Kim seemed to have fallen out the window accidentally. There were no signs of struggle on his body.

Officers have not completely ruled out the possibility of suicide or murder.

No suicide note was found; and he signed a business contract with a Belgium billiards clothes manufacturer Iwan Simonis two weeks ago.

Police said his family does not want an autopsy.

His death comes one day ahead of his birthday.

Kim won in 2010 in Antalya, beating Dick Jaspers in the final.

He competed in the 2006 Doha Asian Games and the 2010 Guangzhou Games, and won the Agipi Masters in 2010 and in 2012.