Chou Chieh-Yu Wins Second World 9-Ball Crown in Bali

Chou Chieh-Yu arrived at the closing stretch of the 2026 Kamui WPA Women's 9-Ball World Championship with the final level and the defending champion across the table. She left it as a two-time world 9-ball champion.

The Chinese Taipei star defeated South Korea's Seo Seoa 3-1 in sets at the Bali International Convention Centre on October 4. After the finalists split the opening two sets, Chou won the next two by identical 4-1 scores to reclaim the title she first captured in 2023.

Set	Chou Chieh-Yu	Seo Seoa	Winner
1	4	1	Chou
2	1	4	Seo
3	4	1	Chou
4	4	1	Chou

How did Chou turn a level final into a 3-1 win?

The first two sets offered a clean exchange of control. Chou opened with a 4-1 win, but Seo answered immediately by taking the second set by the same score. At 1-1, the match had effectively become a best-of-three contest between a former champion and the player trying to retain the crown.

Chou changed the direction of the final in the third set. She built an early advantage, absorbed a brief response from Seo and closed the set 4-1. That sequence mattered because it denied the defending champion the chance to build momentum from her second-set recovery.

The fourth set followed a similar pattern, but with even greater pressure on Seo. Chou lost the opening rack and then won four in a row. Seo had opportunities during that run, yet attacking errors and a kick foul helped leave the table open. Chou converted those chances without allowing the final to reach a deciding set.

The scoreline was not a runaway from the opening break. It was a balanced contest that Chou took over once the title moved within reach.

What separated Chou in the closing sets?

Chou's strongest stretch was defined by control rather than spectacle. She limited the damage after mistakes, accepted the chances Seo gave her and completed racks before the pressure could swing back.

Winning the final two sets 4-1 and 4-1 also showed how quickly a set-based format can turn. A player may recover from one difficult set without carrying a large rack deficit into the next, as Seo did after the opener. But once Chou established command in consecutive sets, there was no cumulative score to soften the impact. Every missed opportunity moved Seo closer to elimination.

For Chou, the closing phase was a test of repeatable execution. She did not need to force the issue. Her task was to keep producing the next correct shot while the defending champion searched for a way to interrupt the rhythm.

How did Chou reach the championship match?

Chou advanced through the winners' side of the preliminary double-elimination stage before the tournament shifted to a 16-player single-elimination bracket.

Her knockout route included victories over Indonesia's Silviana Lu, China's Huang Qingning and Japan's Chihiro Kawahara. The semifinal against Kawahara ended 3-0 in sets, although the final two sets both reached 3-3 before Chou secured the deciding rack.

That path gave her a mix of tests: regional familiarity, elimination pressure and close-set finishes. By the time she faced Seo, Chou had already shown that she could protect a lead and finish a set when one rack carried the full weight of advancement.

Kawahara and Chinese Taipei's Tzu-Chien Wei finished as the joint semifinalists, completing an all-Asian final four in Bali.

What does the victory add to Chou's career?

The Bali result gives Chou her second WPA Women's 9-Ball World Championship, three years after her first. In the 2023 final, she defeated Hall of Famer Allison Fisher 9-0 under the tournament format used at that edition.

Chou also won the women's 10-ball world title in 2022. Her latest victory is therefore her third world championship across the two disciplines and confirms that the 2023 9-ball title was not a single peak.

It also came against the most direct possible benchmark. Seo entered the final as the reigning champion, so Chou did not win an open seat at the top; she took the title from the player defending it.

What did the Bali championship award?

The women's event ran from September 28 to October 4 with a 64-player field and a total prize fund of $200,000. Chou earned $55,000 for the title, while Seo received $33,000 as runner-up.

The tournament formed part of a major championship program in Nusa Dua, Bali. For Chou, however, the defining image was simple: four consecutive racks in the final set, followed by a second women's world 9-ball crown.

Who won the 2026 WPA Women's 9-Ball World Championship?

Chou Chieh-Yu of Chinese Taipei won the title in Bali.

What was the score in the final?

Chou defeated defending champion Seo Seoa 3-1 in sets. The set scores were 4-1, 1-4, 4-1 and 4-1 from Chou's perspective.

How many world championships has Chou Chieh-Yu won?

She has won three world titles: the women's 10-ball championship in 2022 and the women's 9-ball championship in 2023 and 2026.