HO CHI MINH - The terrace, a few minutes from the playing room at the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh, was a lovely place to relax for a while. Therese Klompenhouwer, the women's world champion, met some Dutch friends there for a drink and was in a good mood after a blissful night's sleep. ,,The weather feels quite clammy'', she said the day after her arrival. ,,We just had some rain, but for sure this is a nice, new experience.''
The first day of the World Cup in the Vietnamese metropolis was the day in which many Koreans (29) and Vietnamese (12) entered the arena. The second Frenchman in the tournament, Johny Vascone, far overshadowed by his countryman Jérémy Bury, started with a cold shower against the Korean Jungwu Jeon (30-8 in 17). The German billiards photographer Edmund Mevissen met the same opponent twice, because the third player didn't show up in his group. Mevissen yealded in two matches no more than twelve and thirteen caroms in 36 and 33 innings.
The back-line fights on this first day are the run up to the real top matches. Ten Koreans and six Vietnamese were the top sixteen players and group winners on the opening day. Wan Choi Young finished on top with two wins and 1.500. He was followed by Ngoc Tri Nguyen 1.304, Beong Ho Kim and Trong Qui Truong 1.176. Most remarkable result was the elimination of the Korean Tae-Kwan Kim, the younger brother of Haeng Jik Kim and current Junior world champion. He won a match and lost one (against Tien Dat Nguyen, 30-23 in 25) and is out of contention for the next rounds in Ho Chi Minh.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, among others the young Korean Jung Ju Shin, who reached the semi-finals of the last Junior World championship, enters the tournament. Japanese Namiko Hayashi, one of the women's top players, also starts in the group matches on the second day.
The top sixteen on Monday:
1 Wan Young Choi (Kor) 4-1.500-7
2 Ngoc Gri Nguyen (Viet) 4-1.304-6
3 Byeong Ho Kim (Kor) 4-1.176-5
4 Trong Qui Truong (Viet) 4-1.176-5
5 Jungsub Kim (Kor) 4-1.153-7
6 Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen (Viet) 4-1.034-6
7 Jin Young Kim (Kor) 4-1.016-8
8 Hyun Gyu Park (Kor) 4-0.869-6
9 Young Je Oh (Kor) 4-0.810-4
10 Giyoung Kweon (Kor) 4-0.810-4
11 Sung Ha Yoon (Kor) 3-1.395-5
12 Dong Hoon Kim (Kor) 3-1.052-5
13 Thanh Loc Phan (Viet) 2-1.115-8
14 Hoang Hun Ho (Viet) 2-1.018-7
15 Tien Dat Nguyen (Viet) 2-0.965-5
16 Hyeok Min Kwon (Kor) 2-0.727-5.
Ngoc Gri Nguyen, second ranked player
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Tae-Kwan Kim, the younger brother of Haeng Jik Kim and Junior world champion last year, was eliminated in the first rounds.
The playing room at the Ho Chi Minh World Cup
Japanese player Mai Ishi in action
The German billiard photographer Edmund Mevissen is out after a short adventure in Ho Chi Minh