3-Cushion
GURI – Do the names Hyung Suk Kim and Sang Pil Um still ring a bell? And do you remember who Dong Ryong Kim, Tae Hyun Lee and Dinh Nai Ngo are? Probably not, because we have not heard much of these Korean players, after they made such an impression during the World Cup in Suwon, Korea last year.
Sang Pil Um and Hyung Suk Kim were the only two players to produce a set in a single inning, in the qualifications. Dong-Ryong Kim won a match with a 3.000 average, in the very first round. The unknown Sang Pil Um beat the poor German Frank Spruzina with a 15-0 (1 inning) and 15-1 (6 innings) score, averages 4.285/0.214, making that the best match of the entire tournament.
That Korean World Cup, with its army of fantastic Korean players, has moved from Suwon to Guri, and will be played from 3 – 8 September. It’s another Europe–Asia confrontation in the making.
In spite of all the Korean heroics in the qualifications, that battle was convincingly won by the Europeans last year. Torbjörn Blomdahl won the event, with a fabulous overall average of 2.370, ahead of runner-up Marco Zanetti with 1.746.
To make matters worse for the Koreans, it was all Europeans from the quarterfinals on: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Marco Zanetti, Eddy Merckx, Filippos Kasidokostas, Dani Sánchez, Dick Jaspers, Jérémy Bury and Raimond Burgman. The Korean star players, including their omnipresent elite five, had been sent home.
This cries out for a revenge in the second World Cup of the season, as Kozoom’s cameras will show the action from day one. Last year’s stars Hyun Suk Kim, Tae Hyun Lee and Sang Pil Um have again been placed in the early qualification rounds.
Vinh Ly The, José Maria Mas, Michael Nilsson, South Americans Luis Aveiga and Javier Teran, Therese Klompenhouwer and Barry van Beers play the pre-qualification, in the round following that one Murat Naci Coklu, last week’s winner in Turkey, Tayfun Tasdemir, his opponent in the final, Sameh Sidhom, Eddy Leppens (last year averaging 2.307 and 3.384 while qualifying), Glenn Hofman, Jean Paul de Bruijn, Ryuji Umeda, Dong Koon Kang, Sameh Sidhom and other good players will attempt to make it into the main draw.
The four wildcards for Guri have been awarded to Roland Forthomme, Carlos Campino, Choong Bok Lee and Kyung Nam Ko.