ANKARA - Two European and two Asian teams compete for a place in the WCBS Championship finals today, Sunday,. The Asian A team, headed by Quyet Chien Tran for three-cushion, is fielding the youngest combination of eight players: 27.1 years on average. The Europeans of the A team (leader for three-cushion Martin Horn) are the oldest team in the finals: average age 39.3 years. The Asian B team is 34.1 years on average, the European B team 33.6 years.
The European teams meet from 11.00 (10.00 West European time) at the tournament hall of the Turkish Billiards Federation in Ankara. Liam Davies, the 17-year-youngster from Wales, already a multiple junior champion, has a hearing disorder and is considered one of the main talents in snooker. He is the youngest in the first semi-final, followed among others by Korean three-cushion lady player Won Cha Heo (20) and by Sanjin Pehlivanovic from Bosnia Herzegovina (21) in heyball.
Dick Jaspers, who turns 58 today on the final day, is the oldest player in the semi-finals, followed by Martin Horn (52) and Yuko Nishimoto (49), not coincidentally all three cushion players.
The format of play in the final rounds is:
Three cushion, men to 40, women to 25 with no equalising inning
Snooker, to best of 5
10 Ball, men to 9 racks, women to 7
Heyball, men to 9, women to 7.
The total prize money for the WCBS tournament is €120,000.
The top 6:
Number 1: 40,000 euros (split among 8 within the team)
Number 2: 30,000
Number 3: 18,000
Number 4: 14,000
Number 5: 10,000
Number 6: 8,000.
Young Korean three cushion player Won Cha Heo (20)
The matches on the final day (names, country, age)
Europe A-Europe B
Snooker
Men: Brendan O'Donoghue, Ireland (40)-Liam Davies, Wales (17)
Ladies: Wendy Jans, Belgium (40)-Ewa Pawinska, Poland (37)
Three cushion:
Men: Martin Horn, Germany (52)-Dick Jaspers, Netherlands (58)
Women: Therese Klompenhouwer, Netherlands (40)-Charlotte Sörensen, Denmark (40)
Pool 10 Ball
Men: Mario He, Austria (29)-Konrad Juszczyszyn, Poland (29)
Women: Kristina Ziafeva, Bulgaria (30)-Sara Rocha, Portugal (42)
Heyball:
Men: Saki Kanattan, Turkey (40)-Sanjin Pehlivanovic, Bosnia Herzegovina (21)
Women: Kelly Fisher, England (44)-Ana Gradisnik, Slovenia (26).
Asia A-Asia B
Snooker:
Men: Lim Kok Leong (28), Malaysia-Amir Sarkosh, Iran (32)
Women: Waratthanun Sukritthanes, Thailand (29)-Vidya Pillai, India (45)
Three-cushion:
Men: Quyet Chien Tran, Vietnam (40)-Haeng Jik Kim, Korea (31)
Women: Won Cha Heo, Korea (20)-Yuko Nishimoto, Japan (49)
Pool 10 Ball
Men: Robbie Capito, Hong Kong (22)-Badar Alawadhi, Kuwait (33)
Women: Anita Kan Jaya, Indonesia (28)-Silviana Lu, Indonesia (24)
Heyball:
Men: Zhao Ruliang, China (22)-Moh Keen Hoo, Malaysia (36)
Women: Narantuya Bayarsaikhan, Mongolia (28)-Shi TrianQi, China (23).