Hunger Games

Far and away the best player in 2011, 18-year-old Chen Siming won her second and third major international titles, but the teenage sensation yearns to erase the bitter memory of the one that got away.

SURE, CHEN Siming is only 18 years old with just two years of professional experience. But her 2011 campaign, one in which she clearly distinguished herself as the best female pool player on the planet, may transcend a simple Player of the Year award. Her season may prove to be the second sea change in the modern era of women's pool.

The first, the Allison Fisher-led invasion of snooker talent that took over 9-ball, turned what had been an American game into something that, while still played on U.S. shores, was best done by those from the British Isles. Fisher and Karen Corr turned the women's tour into an elaborate game of one-on-one.

But now, with the Billiards Digest Player of the Year distinguishing herself from the field in eight major events, it's not so much an invasion as a forced relocation. While the American tournament scene continued its decline, Asia - China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan - became the game's theater; its top players took the starring roles.

The Asian influence on the game is no secret and it's nothing new. Ga Young Kim and Xiaoting Pan have been prominent stars for a half-decade; the World 9-Ball Championship has remained in Asia since Fisher last won it in 2001; and the region's big-money international events have filled the American vacuum.

But Chen's season, the first BD Player of the Year never to set foot on American soil, completes the transfer of power. If there was any lingering doubt that pool was headed East, it's long gone.

Growing up in Heilongjiang Province in the far northeast corner of China, where her parents owned a poolroom, Chen first took to snooker at the age of 8. But her future in the cue sports was decided four years later, in 2006, when she won both 8-ball and 9-ball divisions of the Chinese National Youth Championships.

By 2009 she under the tutelage of Wu Jia-Qing (formerly Wu Chia-Ching), the double world titlist who relocated to China from Taiwan. Less than a year later, she snapped off the China Open by topping none other than Allison Fisher.

"When I started to play pool, I always looked to Allison," Chen said. "One day I dreamed of being as good as her. After [the 2010 China Open], I was so full of confidence. I was so happy."

And that's where it started. An express ride to a major title filled Chen with confidence as she began 2011. Falling to Ga Young Kim in the final of Taiwan's Amway Cup, Chen tasted victory at the Philippine Open by annihilating Kelly Fisher, 9-3, for the title. Like so many players on the verge of greatness, the second title proved as important as the first.

"I think that win meant it wasn't just luck," she said. "I knew I could win, and I could do it again. That victory was very important to me."

While she would go six months without another victory, Chen proved remarkable consistent in major events. She advanced to the finals in the China Open and World 9-Ball events, with a semifinal berth at the Beijing Open. For her finale, she topped the highly respected All Japan Championship in November to finish off an impressive year.

When notified in early January that she had won BD Player of the Year honors, Chen admitted to never thinking about such goals in the course of the year. Though the World Pool-Billiard Association, which named men's and women's POY for the first time, notified Chen of her honor in November.

"I never thought I would have won this," she said. "As a pool player, to win this honor, I'm so very happy. It means the work I've done has been worth it."

Clearly proud of what she accomplished in 2011, Chen still thirsts for more. From what was a memorable year, she quickly states her most vivid memory was losing the World 9-Ball final to underdog Bi Zhu-Qing.

"I should have won that match," Chen said. "But maybe it was pressure, maybe it was confidence, but it didn't work out."

While a world title appears possibly, if not outright likely, she's has a long way to go to match Fisher's domination of the women's game. And it's not getting any easier. In the wake of Xiaoting Pan, who won the 2006 World 9-Ball title, Chen's leading the next wave of Chinese talent. Perhaps not the elder stateswoman, she has become the face of a recent surge in talent that includes Yu Han (19 years old) and World 9-Ball winners Fu Xiaofang (25) and Bi (23).

With Chen's strong and steady performance in 2011, she rocketed to the top of the WPA points list. There, she's joined by five of her countrywomen.

While it appears that the Asian domination of the game in 2011 was no flash in the pan, but the established powers, including Allison Fisher, have read their obituaries before, only to reemerge in the game. And Jasmin Ouschan, herself just 26, is going nowhere.

But what's clear is that if somebody wants to take her turn atop the women's game, the battle for supremacy will take place in Asia.

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