Cambodian bride now Korea's carom sensation

Sruong Pheavy. Photos courtesy of LifeTimePhoto/Billking Korea

By Ko Dong-hwan

• Published Dec 10, 2018 1:54 PM KST
• Updated Jun 12, 2020 5:21 PM KST

By Ko Dong-hwan

When the daughter of a potato farmer came to Korea from Cambodia in 2010 to start the second chapter of her life as the wife of a Korean man 28 years older, Sruong Pheavy, like any other marriage migrant woman here, had no idea what was coming.

She did not know back then that she had a knack for carom ― with the potential to play for international titles. She also did not know that she would be Cambodia's heroine to whom building a school for children would not be a far-fetched lifetime goal.

Pheavy, 29, who lives in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, is now in hot demand. After winning the women's tournament at the 2018 ZANCA-Championship Asia 3-Cushion Open, Nov. 26, she extended further her already established reputation inside Korea. She was invited to appear on “

Sugeun Lee's Channel

” on YouTube in November, run by one of the country's top comedians Lee Su-geun, and played a friendly scotch double match with Korean celebrities where she wowed male players.

In Cambodia, she is “received as highly as Korean figure skating queen Kim Yuna,” according to the JoongAng Ilbo.

The Cambodian learned carom from her husband in 2011 when she tagged along with him to a local billiard parlor. Seeing that she had some ability, he suggested she should take up playing seriously. Setting her course just like that, she practiced up to 20 hours a day.

She told the JoongAng Ilbo that her average was 1.0 and record high-run 14 points.

Choi Hyun-hee, project chief from Korean billiard custom cue brand Billking Korea which sponsors Pheavy, told The Korea Times citing the Cambodian, that “she prefers three-cushion billiards to four-ball because it suits her better as it satisfies her needs and makes her happy.”

For three years she played in amateur championships, even beating a male finalist once. After turning professional in January 2016, she won three national tournaments. After 17 months, she outranked all 39 Korean female three-cushion players.

To play internationally, she had to satisfy the administrative condition of having her country's national support through an official billiard authority. And the country did not have such an organization.

In June 2018, the Cambodian government set up the Cambodian Billiard and Snooker Federation for Pheavy. The move came after the son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen read her social media posts in Cambodian about her professional performance and life as a billiard player. He provided 10 million won ($8,900) in funding.

Pheavy was ranked World No. 14 after taking third place at the World Championship 3-Cushion Billiards in Izmir, Turkey, in September this year. Following her performance at ZANCA at Olympic Parktel in Seoul where she beat South Korea's Kim Bo-mi 30-22 in 26 rounds, the “Cambodian Express” jumped to third place behind Therese Klompenhouwer of the Netherlands and ZANCA final match runner-up Gulsen Degener from Turkey in the global rankings.

Pheavy is now sponsored by Phnom Penh Commercial Bank in Cambodia and Korean billiard custom cue brand Billking Korea.

Pheavy expects an honorary award of 15 million won from the Cambodian government for her record global ranking.

She reportedly wishes to donate five million won to her nation's billiard federation and to put the rest toward building a school for children in Cambodia. She recently sent 10,000 parasiticides for children in Cambodia.

“Pheavy contributed to adding one more state-level billiard federation to the Asian region and expanding the sport's market in the region,” Choi said.