ANKARA – The great Eddy Merckx, winner of more than 500 cycling races, turns 80 this week. The other Eddy Merckx, named after one of the world’s most famous sportsmen all time 56 years ago, won the World Cup three-cushion in Ankara this Sunday, his 14th World Cup success, putting him in 5th place among the all-time winners. Eddy Merckx defeated Vietnam's Quyet Chien Tran in the final in Ankara 50-40 in 27 innings. Third place on the podium went to Glenn Hofman from the Netherlands and Sameh Sidhom from Egypt. Dick Jaspers remains number 1 in the world, Quyet Chien Tran is second, Eddy Merckx climbs to third place. One of the stars of this World Cup was Jung Han Heo, the Korean, with a 5.000 on average match and a run of 22.
The small Belgian country shines in the two global sports of cycling and billiards with famous champions. This week, in two days, the whole sportsworld in Belgium will be putting cyclist Eddy Merckx in the spotlight for his 80th birthday. The country also cherishes Eddy Merckx 2, as he is popularly known, who was born in 1968, the year that ’Merckx 1’ won the Tour of Italy and Paris-Roubaix, among other races.
The billiards player Eddy Merckx is not a multi winner, but he is a player who can beat the world's best every year. In the World Cup in Ankara, he defeated the two Dutchmen Dick Jaspers and Glenn Hofman in the two final days and prevented the Vietnamese Tran from winning his second victory this year in the final. This year's third World Cup had a third big winner after Tran and Jaspers.
Eddy Merckx was full of joy after his winning carom and during the award ceremony. ’’I am certainly happy with this World Cup, because I didn't win last year and now I have taken the pressure off early in the year,’’ beamed the Belgian winner. "I am most pleased that every match had its difficult moments, but that I came out on every time. Usually with runs of 7, 8 and 9 at the right moments. I didn't actually play one single perfect game, but I always fought well and could win my matches in the knockout phase. I faced Jaspers, Hofman and Tran in that final days and each time I was able to finish it off well. I was able to, as they say in Belgium, jumped well out of my shoes. I felt quickly well on the billiard tables, which, unlike the new cloths in other World Cups, did not have a “long character” with the rebound on the cushions. I don't really like it when the billiard tables are long, slippery and slide. This was feeling good from the start." Eddy Merckx also enjoyed the support of the audience. ’’We had a nice hall in the finals, with a good crowd. That has not always been like this in the Ankara arena.’’
Eddy Merckx's career shows great consistency, with a World Cup victory almost every year. Last year, the list of honours remained blank, but Merckx has already secured his success for this year. That happened today in the final, in which he knocked out Quyet Chien Tran with 5 and 9 in the 19th and 20th innings and, moments later, he gained the upper hand over Tran with two runs of 4: 50-40 in 27. Merckx had dealt with Glenn Hofman after a slightly better start by the Dutchman, who reached 15-11, but then ran into a 9 from Merckx. Hofman was then unable to make any runs for a long time (1, 2 and 3), Merckx struck again with 7 and finished with four times 2: 50-35 in 28. Quyet Chien Tran took a comfortable lead against Sidhom in the other semi-final with 5, 3 and 6, Sidhom only managed to score twice in the first 9 tries. That lead remained on the scoreboard: Tran later finished with 5, 9, 4 and 6 in his last five innings: 50-22 in 19/18.
The World Cup in Ankara stood out for its high runs. Jung Han Heo was the absolute star in that respect with 22 and 16, Ahmet Alp scored a 19 and Marco Zanetti made a 16 and 15. Jung Han Heo also had the best average with 2.491.
The final standings of the World Cup in Ankara:
1. Eddy Merckx 13-1.839-9
2. Quyet Chien Tran 10-1.967-10
3. Sameh Sidhom 8-1.784-16
4. Glenn Hofman 8-1.746-13
5. Marco Zanetti 8-2.046-16
6. Jérémy Bury 8-1,722-12
7. Haeng Jik Kim 7-1,674-12
8. Dick Jaspers 4-1,824-9
9. Myung Woo Cho 6-2,270-10
10. Tolgahan Kiraz 5-1,777-12
11. Jung Han Heo 4-2.491-22
12. Thanh Luc Tran 4-1.616-11
13. Myeong Jong Cha 4-1.595-9
14. Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1.559-8
15. Dimitrios Seleventas 4-1,504-8
16. Tayfun Tasdemir 4-1,438-8
The World Cup podium in Ankara with Eddy Merckx on top flanked by Quyet Chien Tran and Sameh Sidhom
Sameh Sidhom and Glenn Hofman, who know each other from their junior years, on the podium in Ankara World Cup
Glenn Hofman, great World Cup, only stopped by Eddy Merckx
Quyet Chien Tran after he won the semi final match against Sidhom
The top of the world rankings:
1. Dick Jaspers 444
2. Quyet Chien Tran 392
3. Eddy Merckx 310
4. Myung Woo Cho 286
5. Thanh Luc Tran 281
6. Tayfun Tasdemir 278
7. Sameh Sidhom 270
8. Jung Han Heo 268
9. Marco Zanetti 250
10. Tolgahan Kiraz 214
11. Jun Tae Kim 192
12. Berkay Karakurt 183
13. Phuong Vinh Bao 170
14. Jérémy Bury 167