Master Taiwanese pool player Yang Ching-shun (楊清順) passed away on Wednesday, Taiwan’s billiards federation said. He was 45.
The federation on Facebook expressed its sadness over the passing of Yang, one of Taiwan’s top pool players internationally and a gold medalist at the 1998 and 2002 Asian Games in men’s individual events.
He is regarded as one of the most talented pool players of his generation covering the late 1990s and early 2000s, earning the nickname “Son of Pool” for his overall excellence with a cue.
Photo: Wang Jung-hsiang, Taipei Times
“To the legend, ‘the Son of Pool,’ Yang Ching-shun (1978.04.03-2023.12.06),” the federation wrote as it thanked him for his contributions to the development of billiards in Taiwan.
The post was later deleted at the request of Yang’s family.
Billiards coach and commentator Chang Ming-hsiung (張明雄) told Chinese-language media that Yang died of cancer.
United Daily News quoted Chang as saying that Yang was diagnosed with an unidentified cancer about a year ago and had undergone chemotherapy.
“He chose to keep his fight against cancer a secret and did not want us to make it public,” he told the newspaper.
The Kaohsiung native started playing pool professionally in 1996 and became the youngest champion at the All Japan Championship when he won the 1996 title at the age of 18.
He went on to win the nine-ball event at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok against then-World Pool champion Kunihiko Takahashi and won at the World Games in Akita, Japan, in 2001.
His best finish at the World Pool Championships was third, when he reached the tournament’s semi-finals in 2002.
During the second half of the 1990s, Yang won at least one international pool title a year except for 1999, when he was serving in the military.
He announced his retirement from professional pool in 2010.
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