Park Junghwan, who had after winning the first and second game in this best of five, had the best chances to win the title, did so in a clean sweep, and the inaugural KBS Championships that started in February 2021 (well over a year ago), came to an end. Although the score doesn’t fully confer the exciting middle game that happened in the third game.
Game 3
The game like the previous ones was played with 90 minutes and 5×40 seconds of byo-yomi, Park Junghwan started strong, not unlike yesterday, but the trend that he laid out in the opening was halted in the middle game, as Park Junghwan “mismanaged” his middle-bottom group. However, Lee Donghoon didn’t capitalize on his opponents’ mistake, and soon after Park Junghwan was well on his way again, to in the end win the game by the smallest possible margin (0.5 points). Most interestingly is, that Lee Donghoon, who is known for his endgame calculations miscalculated, and thought he was winning his first game in this finals until the end. Park Junghwan later commented that he played well in the opening, taking a small lead, but that he suffered a loss while trying to break through with his middle bottom stones. But that by attacking his opponent he regained his lead, but that in the endgame he suffered too many losses, and that it was solely because of his lead before the endgame that he came out on top, and that he isn’t particularly good at it [endgame], but that when he manages his stamina well, he is able to compete on equal footing, with the strongest.
Park Junghwan wins 50 million won (37 thousand euros), and Lee Donghoon for being the runner-up ads 20 million (15 thousand euros) to his bank account.