Legendary Taiwanese pool player Yang Ching-shun dies at 45

Taipei, Dec. 6 (CNA) Legendary Taiwanese pool player Yang Ching-shun (楊清順) passed away on Wednesday, Taiwan's billiards association has announced. He was 45.

In a Facebook post, the Chinese Taipei Billiards Federation made public the news and expressed its sadness over the passing of Yang, one of Taiwan's top pool players internationally and a gold medalist at the 1998 and 2002 Asian Games in men's individual events.

He is regarded as one of the most talented pool players of his generation covering the late 1990s and early 2000s, and he earned the nickname "Son of Pool" for his overall excellence with a cuestick.

In a message remembering Yang, the federation wrote "To the legend, 'the Son of Pool' Yang Ching-shun (1978.04.03-2023.12.06)" and thanked him for his contributions to Taiwan's billiards development.

The post was later deleted at the request of the family.

Billiards coach/commentator Chang Ming-hsiung (張明雄) told local media that Yang died of cancer.

He was cited by the United Daily News as saying that Yang was diagnosed with an unidentified cancer about a year ago and had undergone chemotherapy.

"He chose to keep his fight against cancer a secret and did not want us to make it public," Chang told the newspaper.

The Kaohsiung native started playing pool professionally in 1996 and became the youngest champion of the All Japan Championship when he won the 1996 title at the age of 18.

He went on to win the nine-ball event at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok against then World Pool champion Kunihiko Takahashi and finished No. 1 at the World Games in Akita in 2001.

His best finish at the World Pool Championships was third, when he reached the tournament's semifinals in 2002.

During the second half of the 1990s, Yang won at least one international pool title a year except for 1999, when he was performing his compulsory military service.

He announced his retirement from professional pool in 2010.