"Chayuram Returns as the 'Billiards Queen': 'Two Years of Doing My Best... No Regrets or Remorse'"

Cha Yu-ram (36), the "Queen of Billiards" who joined the People Power Party in 2022, has returned to her original profession. On the 31st, the Professional Billiards Association (PBA) announced that Cha Yu-ram will be returning to the women's professional billiards LPBA tour. This comes two years after she announced her retirement upon entering politics in 2022. Cha Yu-ram, known for both her skill and beauty, had earned the title "Queen of Billiards" from a young age. About a month before the June 2022 local elections, she joined the People Power Party and served as a cultural and sports special advisor to the Central Election Committee.

Photo by Cha Yuram Instagram

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At that time, during the People Power Party admission ceremony on May 13, 2022, Cha Yu-ram explained her reason for joining by saying, "As a working mom raising a child and running a company, I felt it deeply," and added, "Seeing firsthand how elite athletes' survival is threatened in all fields, I hoped someone would represent cultural and sports figures." Cha Yu-ram’s husband, writer Lee Ji-seong, also attracted attention by posting that "My wife is right-wing to the bone."

About two weeks after joining the party, on May 26 of the same year, Cha Yu-ram announced her retirement from professional billiards via Instagram. In a post titled "Statement on Retirement from Professional Player," she said, "Due to my personal conviction in joining a political party, I have decided to quit being a professional player," and apologized, "I am sorry for causing confusion to the Professional Billiards Association, team officials, and fellow players."

Nearly two years later, Cha Yu-ram decided to "make a comeback." Regarding her return after retirement, she expressed, "I am excited and happy to be able to stand on the professional billiards stage again after two seasons of retirement," and said, "During the past two years, I have done what I could as a young politician and a working mom politician. I have no regrets or lingering feelings because I did my best." She also stated, "Through the experiences of the past two years, I realized there are many politicians better than me. What I do best is billiards, and I realized I was happiest when I was a billiards player. I will focus on improving my performance with the mindset I had when I first picked up the cue."

In May 2022, Ahn Cheol-soo, the People Power Party candidate for Seongnam Bundang-gap in the National Assembly, Kim Eun-hye, the People Power Party candidate for Gyeonggi Province governor, and Cha Yu-ram, the cultural and sports special advisor, are greeting at the Central Election Committee's Gyeonggi Province All-Hands Victory Rally held in front of Yatap Station in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do.
[Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group]

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Cha Yu-ram’s comeback stage will be the Welcome Savings Bank PBA-LPBA Championship starting on the 4th of next month. If Welcome Savings Bank selects Cha Yu-ram in the draft scheduled before the next season, she will compete in the team league as a member of Welcome Savings Bank from the new season. Cha Yu-ram plans to play her first preliminary match of the Welcome Savings Bank Welbang LPBA Championship at the PBA Stadium in Goyang KINTEX on the 4th, followed by an official press conference.

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