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| Name:
Charles Williams |
| Alias:
The Korean Dragon |
| Residence:
United States |
| D.O.B.:
1/5/1977 Age:
35 |
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About Charles Williams
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| Charlie Williams, a.k.a The Korean Dragon, promotes major events in the USA and Korea as well as serving on the UPA Board (United States Professional Pool Players Association-which he founded 4 years ago),and also has maintained himself as a top 5 ranked pro player.
Charles Lee Williams was born in Seoul, Korea on Jan 5, 1977. He was raised in Newport News, VA where he eventually picked up his love for pool (see BD 1999 interview with CW).
Williams officially started his pool career at age 12, and within one year became a known local prodigy and went on to finish 4th place at the 1990 2nd Annual BCA Junior Nationals. Within 2 years of playing, Williams went back to become the BCA US Junior National Champion held in Nashville, TN. He then went on to become the youngest player to ever compete in the US Open where he lost a respectable 11-7 match to Ralf Souquet.
At age 15, Williams made his international debut at the 1st World Junior Championships held in Taipei, Taiwan. By the next year at the age of 16, Williams started making waves on the pro-am circuit with many high finishes and a 2nd place finish at the Maryland State Championship where he took down many top regional pros. That same year, Williams had a career highlight when he defeated the defending US Open Champion Tommy Kennedy 13-12 in the 1st round of the US Open.
And just when Williams was making a shot for the pros, he abruptly stopped playing and fell out of the pool world for 2 years. Williams decided to give his personal life some time and decided to become involved with academics, high school wrestling, and church.
When Williams turned 18, he felt the desire to play again. He started back on the pro-am circuit trail and within one year started snapping off big regional events left and right. Between the ages of 18 and 20, Williams won multiple regional titles and established himself as one of the country’s best young talents again.
Just one day after his 21st birthday, Williams took a shot at an opportunity to play full-time on the national pro tour. A poolroom had offered to sponsor him, so Williams took a break from college and packed his car and drove to Orlando, FL to become a full-time professional pool player.
Florida was considered to have the strongest regional pro tour in the country, and at that time regulars on tour included names like Hall Mizerak, Martin Kennedy, Howard and a slew of top would be pros. Florida became a great training ground for Williams.
Williams did nothing but practice, workout at the gym, and compete in every event and play every match-up game he could that year. In less than one year, Williams was ranked in the top 10 on the Florida Pro Tour, and ended his year on the national tour ranking in at 30. He also made his highest pro finish at a tie for 5th with an ESPN filmed match and also his international debut TV appearance in Europe and Asia at the World Pool Championships.
1999 was a good and bad year for Williams, as he became the #1 ranked player on the FL Pro Tour, but the big wins eluded him on the national circuit and he ended with a 30 ranked position once again. Williams re-doubles his efforts of practicing and would lock himself at the pool room after hours and would practice completely alone from 2am-8am in the morning.
2000 Pro events became slimmer to find as the pro tour officially dissolved. Independent promoters tried to keep pro events alive through the year. Williams continued to play and practice and went on the road playing one-on-one matches with tough players and learning from good friend and road partner Steve Knight from England. William shad a career highlight with a 3rd place finish at Turningstone Casino Championship barely losing to Efren Reyes 11-10. He finished the year out ranked in the top 20.
2001 became a milestone year for the 24 year old Williams. That year Williams formed the UPA which would soon become the recognized US Men’s Pro Tour. Williams also promoted his first event, The Central Florida Open, which became a smashing hit with fans and players and led to the formation of Williams’ company Dragon Promotions. (see BD 2003 Interview with CW) Williams also achieved a higher success in his pool career with more consistent high finishes in major events and also his biggest pro win at the Turningstone Invitational where he defeated the reigning World Champion Mika Immonen in the finals. He elevated his national ranking to the top 6 which earned him a position on the US Mosconi Cup Team to play against Team Europe which Williams set records as the first Rookie to go undefeated in the event and first player to retain a 100% winning record. Williams also won 4 Florida Pro Tour Events in a row to become the Florida Pro Tour Player of the Year for the 2nd time.
In 2002, everything seemed to be going Williams` way as the UPA was growing as well as DP (Dragon Promotions). Williams also won his first nationally televised major title at the BCA Open Championships and became the first Asian American Male pool player to win a nationally televised title. Williams also became the first and only player to be sponsored by Predator Cues. Williams also made his 2nd US Mosconi Cup Team appearance and had the most wins for the US Team that year. But as UPA duties widened and with DP business expanding; Williams found less and less time to focus on his pool game and his practice time dropped to near zero.
By July of 2003, Williams’ life perceptional seemed to be in turmoil. Battles with multiple issues and entities with the UPA, DP commitments to produce events, and a lagging pool career that seemed to be going before it ever really got started. His critics were at their best when it seemed to them Williams was at his worst. Williams arrived in New York City for the Big Apple Challenge during the blackout of `03 with no luggage or cues and at an event which the UPA almost boycotted. And just when all the odds seemed against him and everyone counted him out, Williams bounced back out of nowhere to go undefeated and win one of the strongest international fields ever at an event and defeating non-other than Efren Reyes(whom he had never beaten) not only once, but twice in the finals with a borrowed Predator cue. Less than 2 weeks later, Williams won another UPA ProTour title at the Capitol City Classic. Williams elevated his ranking to #1 on the pro tour.
Today Williams continues to promote pool through Dragon Promotions. DP produces over 20 events a year in locations including NYC, Los Angeles, FL, Atlanta, and Korea. Two of DP`s events will be televised on ESPN and several of his events in Korea will be televised.
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| Statistics: |
| 2006 North American Open - Las Vegas, NV |
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| Matches |
Games |
Winning Method |
Prize
Money Won |
| Total |
Won |
Lost |
Win% |
Total |
Won |
Lost |
Win % |
B&R |
B&R%* |
B&R%+ |
8 on B |
| 13 | 9 | 4 | 69.23 | 154 | 84 | 70 | 54.55 | 21 | 25 | 13.64 | 0 | $10,000.00 |
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| 2006 World Open - Reno, NV |
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| Matches |
Games |
Winning Method |
Prize
Money Won |
| Total |
Won |
Lost |
Win% |
Total |
Won |
Lost |
Win % |
B&R |
B&R%* |
B&R%+ |
8 on B |
| 23 | 13 | 10 | 56.52 | 288 | 157 | 131 | 54.51 | 57 | 36.31 | 19.79 | 2 | $32,185.00 |
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| Cumilative Statistics |
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| Prize Money Won |
Total Matches Won |
Game Winning % |
Break and Runouts |
8 Balls on the Break |
| $42,185.00 | 22 | 54.52 | 78 | 2 |
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| * Denotes percentage of B&Rs out of total games won |
+ Denotes percentage of B&Rs out of games played |
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