SPM Billiards Magazine Issue 33

Ko Ping Han

The Youngest Ko

Part Three

By Patrick Sampey

Ko Ping Han

Photo proved by Ko Ping Han

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‘Those who have the youth Have the future’ So come now, children of the beast Be strong And Shout at the Devil” – Motley Crue, ‘In The Beginning’

Sunday, September 25th, 2022 – “It has been written ‘those who have the youth, have the future,’” read the lyrics that sound like an epitaph ‘In The Beginning,’ by Motley Crue, and I don’t know what Ko Ping Han’s musical preference is, or if he’d like a Motley Crue song to open his article with, and I always liked the quote cited above this introduction to the youngest Ko Brother, Ko Ping Han, but I thought of the song lyrics, how he is the youngest Ko Brother at just 24, with many years ahead of him, and it seemed to fit his story in some small way.

Ko Ping Han is the youngest of the three Ko Brothers, as I’ve aforementioned, and he told me he took some time off from pool to pursue professional darts, trying something a little different from his other two brothers, but billiards is in his blood, and he seeks to enter the US Open this year alongside his brothers Ko Ping Chung and Ko Pin Yi, and make a run himself to win a major world title. 9 years separate he and his eldest brother Ko Pin Yi, so he has plenty of time yet to make his mark, although he isn’t currently ranked up there with other two brothers; he has beaten SVB (Shane Van Boening) before however, and is a threat in his own right to defeat any player worldwide; make no mistake about his pedigree in pool: prolific.

“I will be 24 years old this year. Ko pin Yi is the oldest, Ko Ping Chung is the second brother, and I am the youngest. We don’t have any children at the moment. Maybe we will teach them to play in the future. We have our own practice room. The three of us practice pool together every day, and discuss with each other about the game.” – said Ko Ping Han.

“It has always been my dream to become a pool champion, although I haven’t achieved it yet, I will continue to work hard. I hope that one day I can win the world championship. I hope more people can learn about pool, because it has always been a very good sport. Both the elderly and children can play together, and there will be no sports injuries.

I think that the most difficult opponent is often myself, because no matter who I meet, as long as I don’t perform well, I may lose, but if I perform well, I may win against anyone regardless.” ~ Ko Ping Han.

And Ko Ping Han has it tough I’d imagine, because it’s a little different to live up to a name than to make your mark like his brothers Ko Pin Yi, and Ko Ping Chung have already done, having well established themselves as two of the top world players – but Ko Ping Han is seeking to make his own, individual stamp on the game for himself as well:

“I have been playing pool for 8 years now. The first time I played in an international competition was when I was 17 years old. I have been playing international competitions since I was 17 years old.

As my family runs a poolhall, I started playing very young, and started training then. Since my two elder brothers are professional players, seeing them travel around the world seems like a nice thing to do. But when I was 15, 16,17 I started playing darts and gave up pool then,

‘till I graduated high school and started training hard in pool again. Currently I am working towards my dream of winning a world title.” – Said Ko Ping Han.

Ko Ping Han, when asked who the biggest influence on his game is, “That must be my two brothers, because they taught me a lot of pool skills, without them, I probably wouldn’t be able to improve so fast.”

Ko Ping Han is doing great from this writer’s perspective; With both his two brothers excelling so well on the world stage of pool, he has a lot to live up to, but he appears quite ready, and able to handle the pressure of living up to the Ko name: incredible grit he shows, a true Ko Brother through and through, each seeking to put their own fingerprint upon the countenance of billiards at large.

Ko Ping Han about his worse loss:

“It should be that I lost to the champion in the final round of the World Junior Quarterfinals in 2016, because if I had won the championship successfully, it would have set a record that all three of our brothers have won the World Junior Championship,” said Ko Ping Han.

About his best win, Ko Ping Han says, “It should be the match against SVB in 2019, because I have always liked SVB, and he is one of my idols. I was lucky to beat him in that match, so It was very memorable for me.”

“I am using Zen Cue with a XPRO 2 shaft,” Ko Ping Han says about his playing cue, retailing for $7,500 new, an amazing work of billiards art. Look for our article, which reviews the Zen Custom Cues the Ko Brothers play with, a pool story in and of themselves.

In 2015 his brother Ko Pin Yi won three international pool titles, Ko Ping Han told me, highlighting yet again how he shows respect for what his eldest brother has achieved in the pool world at large.

This is the final article, to complete the October edition of SPM (Sneaky Pete Mafia) magazine, with Ko Ping Han being the youngest of the three, with many years to play, many possible tournaments to win, and his own individual legacy to map out, as he attempts to make his own mark on the pool world, and uphold the Ko name. All in all these Ko Brothers are making a big impact on the pool scene, and it has been my pleasure to cover each of their individual journeys in the game; I stand in awe of three of the hottest rising new pillars of pool, these Ko Brothers, young guns in pool, rising to the dawn of a new era in billiards excellence: Ko Brothers – and Ko Ping Han may be the youngest, but he is coming to take his place among his brothers, and the pool world will never be the same.

Ko Ping Han of Ko Brother Billiards

Photo provided by Ko Ping Han