Crown Hattae moves into a tie for first place in the PBA Team League. The competition for the fourth round championship is boiling down to a two-way battle between Crown Hattae and NH Card, which is riding a ’13-game winning streak’.
On the sixth day of the fourth round of the Welcome Savings Bank PBA Team League 2023-2024 at the Goyang Kintex PBA Stadium in Goyang, Goyang Province, Crown HaeTae won their fourth straight game against Haiwon Resort with a set score of 4-2.
After a full-set loss on the first day of Round 4 (W1), Crown HaeTae’s four straight “three-point” wins gave them 13 points and moved them into a tie for first place with NHK Card. The NHK Cards are undefeated in the fourth round (five straight wins), but have recorded two full-set victories (2 points).
Crown Hae-tae set the tone from the first set. Kim Tae-kwan and Kim Jae-geun led the way, scoring eight high-run points in the third game to defeat Rui Chenette (Turkiye) and Lee Chung-bok 11-8 (5 games). Soon after, Lim Jung-sook and Baek Min-ju defeated Lee Im-rae and Yong Hyun-ji 9-8 (11 games), and in the third set, David Martinez (Spain) defeated Chenette 15-10 (12 games) to take a 3-0 lead in the set.
Hi-One Resort fought back with a four-set mixed doubles victory. Lim Sung-gyun and Yong Hyun-ji defeated Oh Tae-joon and Lim Jung-sook 9-2 in four games, and in the fifth set, Nguyen Phuong Linh (VN) defeated Kim Jae-geun 11-8 (5 games) to pull within 2-3.
In the sixth set, however, Baek Min-ju put the finishing touches on Crown Hae-tae’s victory. Against Im, Baek scored six straight points, including a bank shot in her first attack, to jump out to a quick 6-0 lead. Im rallied with three runs, but Baek Min-ju scored one in the fifth and two more in the sixth to close out the match with a 9-3 victory.
The NHCards won the full set against the HanaCards and extended their winning streak to 13 games in the PBA Team League. Outside aces shined on this day. With the score tied at 2-2 in the fifth set, Antonio Montes (Spain) defeated Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam) with a perfect cue, and in the seventh and deciding set, Mamin Gum (Vietnam) defeated Byung Ho Kim (Korea) 11-9 in three innings to seal the victory for his team.
In other matches of the day, Blue One Resort snapped a two-game losing streak with a 4-1 set win over Huon’s, while Eswai won 4-2 against SK Rent-a-Car.
On the seventh day of the fourth round, the first match of the day will be between Welcome Savings Bank and Hiwon Resort at 12:30 p.m., followed by NHK Card-Huonce at 3:30 p.m., Crown HaeTae and Eswai at 6:30 p.m., and Blue One Resort and SK Rent-a-Car at 9:30 p.m. Hana Card will have a day off.