INCHEON - The first victory in the new 3CC World Masters series went to Eddy Merckx in Seoul on 15 July. Tomorrow (Thursday) is the second tournament in the cycle: the 3CC Survival Masters in Incheon. The game system has been changed compared to the first edition. Most striking: four players are at the billiard tabele at the same time for one match.
From Thursday 13 to Sunday 16 September, the world's best players meet again in Seoul at the Incheon Skypark Hotel. In the invitation tournament, organized in cooperation with the UMB and Kozoom, no ranking points can be earned for the world ranking. The total prize money is 220.000 dollars: the winner earns 50.000, the losing finalist 21.000, the number three 18.000, the fourth 15.000, the number last on the ranking 4.000 dollar.
The 24 invited players are divided into six groups of four and play a game according to a system that is well known in South Korea. The 'Survival' is mainly based on the game formula that Koreans call 'Jook Bang'.
The rules of the game in summary are:
- Four players will play on one table
- There will be two halves of play each 45 minutes, the first half followed by a five minute break and then the second half
- For the first half, the order of play will be determined at random
- For the second half, the order of play will be the reverse of the first half
- 30 second shot clock, each player will have 3 timeouts
Scoring:
- At the beginning of each half, each player will be given 30 points. Each carom scored will result in receiving one point from each of the other players.
Example:
Player A starts the game with 5 points in his first inning
Player A will have 45 points (30 + 5 + 5 + 5)
Players B, C, and D will each have 25 points (30-5)
Player B then makes a run of 4 points
Player A will have 41 points (45 - 4)
Player B will have 37 points (25 + 4 + 4 + 4)
Players C and D will have 21 points (25 - 4)
- At the end of each half, if Player A is in the middle of shooting, then the half does not end at the end of Player A's inning. Players B, C, and D will also be given the opportunity for one more inning each, so that at the end of the half, each player will have played the same number of innings. If the timer for the first half ends during Player C's inning, then only Player D will be allowed one more inning after Player C is finished, as Players A and B will already had a chance that inning.
- If a player's point balance goes to zero or negative, he is out of the game and cannot continue. However, each player will be given an opportunity to make up their points and get back to positive if they have not yet had their turn that inning. For example, if Player C makes a run which results in Player D ending up with -5 points, Player D is not out until he has had a chance to play his inning. Player D must make at least 2 caroms (to receive 6 points, 2 from each of the other three players) so his balance of points goes to +1 and then he shall be allowed to continue. However, if he is not able to make enough caroms and his balance of points is still zero or negative at the end of his inning, then he is out of the game.
- For another example, if Player A has 4 points after his inning, but Player B made a run of 6, Player A's point balance will be -2, and since he has already had his turn that inning, he is immediately out of the game.
If a player is eliminated in the first half of the game, he is out only for the first half. This is because in the second half, he will be granted another 30 points, with which he can begin to play the second half. If a player is eliminated in the second half, he is finished for the game.
Final scoring to determine the winner of the survival challenge will be total points. If two players are tied for total points, the winner will be determined by their top high run, and if their high runs are the same, then their second high runs will be used.
Round 1: Top 2 from each Match advance to Round 2 (12 players)
Round 1 Second Chance Round: The 12 players who were eliminated in round 1 will be re-grouped into 3 groups of 4, there will be 3 more matches, and the #1 player from each will advance to round 2. Among the #2 players, the one with the most points will also advance to Round 2, for a total of 4 players surviving the Second Chance Round.
This will results in a total of 16 players advancing to Round 2.
Round 2: 16 players in 4 matches, top two players from each match advance to Round 3.
Round 3: 8 players in 2 matches, top two players from each match advance to Finals.
Finals: 4 players, one match to determine the Champion of the Survival 3C Masters.
The line-up of the six groups:
Group 1: Haeng-Jik Kim, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Sameh Sidhom, Hugo Patino (wildcard)
Group 2: Jung-Han Heo, Murat Naci Coklu, Quyet Chien Tran, Martin Horn (wildcard)
Group 3: Sung-Won Choi, Dani Sanchez, Dick Jaspers, Jérémy Bury
Group 4: Jae-Ho Cho, Marco Zanetti, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Nikos Polychronopoulos
Group 5: Eddy Merckx, Eddy Leppens, Semi Sayginer, Dong Koong Kang (wildcard)
Group 6: Myung-Woo Cho (wildcard), Frédéric Caudron, Dinh Nai Ngo, Tayfun Tasdemir.
Twelve players are qualified (the first two of each group). Players 3 and 4 in each group have a chance to reach the quarter-finals with sixteen in a decisive game on Friday. In the three matches between four players, the first three and the best second are added to the twelve players for the final round.
The prize money earned by the top players in 2018 according to Bert van Manen's page