LINT/ANTWERP – The best of the day had just passed in Jérémy Bury’s wonderful match. Most of the Belgian spectators in the stands, all of them Peter Ceulemans fans, were looking in fascination at another match table, where a true thriller was unfolding. Peter Ceulemans fought for himself and his home crowd, who watched with bated breath for his last chance to survive in the battle against Dane Thomas Andersen. The ooo's and aaa's flew around in the stands, one missed match point followed another. The match went to the climax at 39-39, both players one carom from qualifying. In the nerve-racking last innings, it was ultimately the Dane who scored and secured the all-important ticket to the knock-outs. The applause also went to Peter Ceulemans, who had missed the match point due to a kiss after a three-point run. But the elimination, so close to survival, was incredibly painful. Especially for the player, but certainly also for the spectators.
The highlight of the day did only just fade away. Jérémy Bury, in a gallery for players with a best run of 25, pulled off a feat in his match against Mexican Alexander Santiago. 44-year-old Frenchman started with two zeros, made a 7, an 8, a 12, and finally finished with 3, 2, and 4: for 40-7 in just 11 innings, a 3.363 average, the best over two days.
The magnificent matches followed one another in rapid succession. One of the highlights was seen in the match between Roland Forthomme and Hong Chiem Thai. The Vietnamese player started with 12 and 8 for a 20-1 lead. Forthomme trailed 24-10 and scored runs of 18 and 8 in the 11th and 12th innings for a 36-27 lead. Thai finished with 7, after which Forthomme equalized with 1: 40-40 in 17, averaging 2.352.
The two days of qualifying saw many high-quality matches. The best was by Jérémy Bury with a 40 in 11 (3.363). Phuong Vinh Bao made 40 in 12 (3.333), Tayfun Tasdemir 40 in 15 (2.666) and 40 in 16 (2.500). Myung Woo Cho and Dick Jaspers also made 40 in 16.
Tayfun Tasdemir had the best average over two matches with 2.580, followed by Bao with 2.352 and Hong Chiem Thai with 2.352. The Vietnamese player finished two matches in 17 innings: one was a draw against Forthomme, and the other was a 40-12 victory over Bart Ceulemans.
The first knockout matches with 32 players, featuring many interesting encounters, are:
Thursday, 12:00 PM:
Tasdemir-Andersen
Caudron-Forthomme
Horn-Kiraz
Thanh Luc Tran-Umeda
2:30 PM:
Quyet Chien Tran-Lee
Jaspers-De Bruijn
Thai-Kahofer
Heo-Piedrabuena
5:00 PM:
Bury-Soares
Cho-Kim
Polychronopoulos-Abdin
Zanetti-Devogelaere
7:30 PM:
Sidhom-Löwe
Merckx-Blomdahl
Karakurt-Anguita
Bao-Özcan
The Belgians continue their tournament tomorrow, Thursday, with Eddy Merckx, Roland Forthomme, and Frédéric Caudron. Ronny Brants was overtaken on average in the final sessions by Torbjörn Blomdahl, the man he had defeated in a straight match. The two Ceulemans brothers, Peter and Bart, have also left the building.
The Dutch were left with two players for the main draw with 32: Dick Jaspers and Jean Paul de Bruijn, who meet each others.
This was definitely not the World Championship for the Colombians, who haven't won a single match. Pedro Gonzalez averages a meager 1.000, while Huberney Cataño doesn't even reach 1 average: 0.936. Alexander Munoz is also in the doldrums with 0 points and 1.045. The most famous South American billiards nation returns home with a serious hangover. The final result for the South Americans was very poor: three Colombians quickly returned home, Luis Aveiga arrived too late and was not allowed to play, the Mexicans Santiago and Sobreyra finished bottom with no points, the same as Chilean Bahamondes. Pedro Piedrabuena is the only one with a place in the next round with a victory over Mexican Santiago.
Peter Ceulemans and Thomas Andersen
Jérémy Bury, fantastic match
Phuong Vinh Bao, one of the top favorite
Dick Jaspers, among the main contenders
Marco Zanetti, up to the next rounds
Eddy Merckx, one of three Belgians in the main draw
Group A:
Luis Aveiga's withdrawal is unfortunate for the tournament. Raymond Ceulemans himself was still trying to get the South American to start, but the announcement that two players will play doubles against each other had already been made official.Myung Woo Cho wins the first 40-24 in 16 innings, the second ends in a draw in 28 innings.
The ranking:
Myung Woo Cho 3-1,818-7
Yilmaz Özcan 1-1,454-6
Group B:
Dick Jaspers has a sort of warm-up, first against Ryuuji Umeda, who doesn't really come close with a 40-24 in 16 innings. Jihad Kolfad pulls off a brave 40-28 against Jaspers in 25 innings, but is sent home after the group stage.
Standings:
Dick Jaspers 4-1.951-9
Ryuuji Umeda 2-1.306-6
Jihad Kolfad 0-0.758-5
Group C:
Eddy Merckx is the sovereign winner. Huberney Cataño, one of the better Colombians, doesn't have a good preliminary round with a score of 0.936 and can't compete. Jean Paul de Bruijn secures his second place against Cataño, loses to Merckx 40-29, and needs to improve his average to play a role in the next phase.
Standings:
Eddy Merckx 4-1,568-7
Jean Paul de Bruijn 2-1,078-6
Huberney Cataño 0-0,936-3
Group D:
The first Vietnamese winner emerged from the earliest session of the second day. Quyet Chien Tran didn't play at his usual high level, but qualified with a win against Beom Yeol Lee (40-36 in 22 matches) and Luis Sobreira, the Mexican who can be pleased with his performance.
The standings:
Quyet Chien Tran 4-1,481-8
Beom Yeol Lee 2-1,551-9
Luis Sobreira 0-1,135-8
Group E:
Marco Zanetti and Tom Löwe battle for the top spot. The Italian scored a 7 and a 6 in between, while Tom Löwe stuck to a lot of 2’s and 3’s, but still came quite close at 39-35. The match ended 40-36 in 31 innings, not a high-quality match, but sufficient for qualification, as Naser Awwad from Jordan was particularly defeated by Zanetti, 40-18 in 23 innings.
The score:
Marco Zanetti 4-1,481-9
Tom Löwe 2-1,245-7
Naser Awwad 0-1,056-6
Group F:
Thanh Luc Tran is the well deserved winner with two comfortable matches. Jose Miguel Soares is tied for the top spot, while Pedro Gonzalez can't live up to his reputation. The head-to-head match ended 40-32 for Soares.
Standings:
Thanh Luc Tran 4-1,739-9
Jose Miguel Soares 2-1,017-9
Pedro Gonzalez 0-1,000-5
Group G:
Tayfun Tasdemir's form at the World Cup, right up to the final, also gives him a brilliant start to the World championship. The Turk shines in the group with victories oveer Mikaël Devogelaere and Alexander Munoz, 40-24 in 15 and 40-19 in 16, good for a formidable average 2,580 for Tasdemir with a run of 16.
The standings:
Tayfun Tasdemir 4-2,580-16
Mikaël Devogelaere 2-1,488-11
Alexander Munoz 0-1,045-5
Group H:
Sameh Sidhom is the superior winner, Arnim Kahofer and Martin Bohac battle for the second spot. The Austrian advances to the knockouts with a score 40-32 in 25. Sidhom defeats his opponents in 21 and 25 innings and is ready for the next round.
The standings:
Sameh Sidhom 4-1,739-10
Arnim Kahofer 2-1,586-9
Martin Bohac 0-1,020-6
Group I:
What a fantastic match from Jérémy Bury, the 44-year-old Frenchman, who defeated Santiago in 11 innings and made runs of 12 in two matches in his group. That made him one of the best players on the day with an average of 2.285, far above his opponents. American Pedro Piedrabuena secured the second spot by defeating Mexican Santiago 40-26 in 31.
Standings:
Jérémy Bury 4-2, 285-12
Pedro Piedrabuena 2-1, 072-6
Alexander Santiago 0-0, 785-7
Group J:
TTT Nguyen started the final match against Heo with a 13-1 lead in four innings, but was defeated in the end. The Korean won 40-37 and secured the group title ahead of Carlos Anguita, the Spanish former world junior champion. TTT Nguyen's elimination was one of the surprises of this two-day match in the high-average group.
Standings:
Jung Han Heo 4-2,105-10
Carlos Anguita 2-1,725-8
TTT Nguyen 0-1,500-9
Group K:
Sunday's World Cup winner, Martin Horn, wasn't outstanding, but good enough in his first World Championship appearance. In the group with Egyptian Abdin and Swiss Canturk, Horn won 40-12, 40-23, averaging 1,568 with a run of 14. Mohamed Abdin, a friendly Egyptian, took second place.
Standings:
Martin Horn 4-1,568-14
Mohamed Abdin 2-1,130-8
Kenan Canturk 0-0,650-5
Group L:
So close, still going home. Peter Ceulemans had the crowd on his side in his final match. After losing to Nick Polychronopoulos in his first, 40-23 in 20, Ceulemans had to beat Andersen, the equally nervous Dane. It was a memorable climax between the Belgian and the Dane. Ceulemans had already launched a 13-16 lead in the fifth inning and seized an opportunity to claim the match. The Belgian, especially between the 13th and 25th innings, fell too far behind to secure the victory early. Andersen slowly recovered, even leading 32-30, but then also initiated a long series of zeros. The final score was 36-36, 38-36 for Andersen, 39-38 for Ceulemans, who missed his match point twice. When Andersen qualified, Ceulemans was able to equalize the match with a last point: 40-40 in 38. Nick Polychronopoulos finished magnificently with two wins and a score 1,777.
The standings:
Nick Polychronopoulos 4-1,777-7
Thomas Andersen 1-1,206-8
Peter Ceulemans 1-1,086-13
Group M:
Phuong Vinh Bao enters the next round as one of the top favorites with his historic match of 40 in 4 in the World Cup and now 40 in 11 and 40 in 22 at the World Championship. The Vietnamese finished ahead of Tolgahan Kiraz, who in his last match relegated Chilean Luis Bahamondes to third place. Standings:
Phuong Vinh Bao 4-2,352-9
Tolgahan Kiraz 2-1,415-7
Luis Bahamondes 0-1,139-5
Group N:
Haeng Jik Kim defeated Frédéric Caudron 40-25 in 19 matches in the final evening session. The Belgian nevertheless became the group winner with his first victory over Wan Young Choi 40-23 in 21 matches. This created a group with three players, each earning 2 points, as Choi defeated Kim 40-28 in 23 matches in the first match. Caudron won by the narrowest margin on average, and Haeng Jik Kim secured the second spot.
Standings:
Frédéric Caudron 2-1,625-12
Haeng Jik Kim 2-1,619-7
Wan Young Choi 2-1,431-8
Group O:
Berkay Karakurt won the group that also ended with three players with two match points. The Turk was defeated in the final game by Torbjörn Blomdahl (40-25 in 21 innings), allowing the Swede to take second place at the expense of Ronny Brants. The third of six Belgians was thus not rewarded for his victory over Blomdahl. Karakurt was the best on average, having defeated Brants 40-17 in 16 innings.
Standings:
Berkay Karakurt 2-1,756-9
Torbjörn Blomdahl 2-1,433-8
Ronny Brants 2-1,187-8
Group P:
The youthful-looking Hong Chiem Thai was the hero of his final group. With his 2,352 average and runs of 13 and 12, he proved to be a super strong group winner. The draw against Forthomme was a brilliant game, in which Forthomme shone with 18. Bart Ceulemans was unable to play a role in this group and had to leave the stage with a subpar average of 0.705 for his class. He suffered two heavy losses.
Standings:
Hong Chiem Thai 3-2,352-13
Roland Forthomme 3-1,568-18
Bart Ceulemans 0-0,705-6.