Artistic
FLORANGE - The world of artistic billiard players settles in Florange (France) playing for the world title from 25 to 29 May. The organization has been assigned to this city as a reward for lots of national tournaments which have been held in the past.
This weekend 24 players battle for the world title: nineteen Europeans and five Asians. Sadly, just as in the previous edition, there will be no South American at the list of participants. The Mexican Roberto Rojas was one of the great specialists in this discipline for many years.
The winner of the French ranking tournaments, Michael Hammen from Florange, received the wildcard of the UMB, the number two Jean Reverchon of the French federation. Thanks to that invitation the two Frenchmen are admitted directly to the main tournament with six other seeded players, including the defending champion Eric Daelman from Belgium.
Sixteen players, divided into four groups, compete in qualifying sessions for eight places in the main event.
Qualifying Rounds:
Group A: Kevin Tran (FR), Jaume Norberto (ES), Nobuyasu Sakai (JP), Michel Parra (NL)
Group B: Robert Immervol (AT), Erik Vervliet (NL), Jung Yong-Seok (KR), Erik Vijverberg (NL)
Group C: Laszlo Toth (Hun), Haci Arap Yaman (TR), Takayuki Iseki (JP) Bernd Singer (Ger)
Group D: Thomas Ahrens (Ger), Olivier Lacroix (U.S.), Suk-Yoon Kim (KR), Serdar Gumus (TR)
Main Tournament:
Group A: Eric Daelman (BE), Michael Hammen (FR) + 1 and 8 of the qualifications
Group B: Sander Jonen (NL), Xavier Fonellosa (ES) + 2nd and 7th of qualifications
Group C: Walter Bax (BE), Jean Reverchon (FR) + 3rd and 6th qualifications
Group D: Hajime Watanabe (JP), Martin van Rhee (NL) + 4th and 5th of qualifications
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