Belgians have to put their money on Frédéric Caudron

SUWON - The World Cup in Suwon is not the tournament of the Belgians. Roland Forthomme and Eddy Leppens have already been killed on their way to the main event, Jef Philipoom lost his illusions this morning, followed by Eddy Merckx in the third session of the day. The number three of the world (Kyung-Roul Kim) has already been eliminated, with Eddy Merckx the number four disappeared from the scene.

The Belgians have to put their money on Frédéric Caudron now, the last of them, who will play in the last session of the eighth finals against the Vietnamese Xuan Cuong MA.

Many top players in the world have always a little fear that they will face a lesser period. Eddy Merckx has passed some great years with many highligts, but in recent months, the shape is not optimal.

That's a strange phenomenon for the Belgian, who stopped with his billiard cafe, got some more time for his own and built up a beautiful private billiard room at home. He really made a very relaxed impression, nevertheless, he was not at his best in the World championship in Lima, nor did he in the World Cup in Suwon today. An average of 1.028 is far below his level. His opponent, Seung Gwan Kim, eagerly took advantage, even he played not so good, but he was solid enough to beat Merckx 3-0.

On the other table, the last of this round, there was a struggle between the Korean Chun-Bok Lee and Japanese Hagiwara Takamasa. To the delight of the home crowd the Korean won rather easy: 3-0, scores 15-9, 15-4, 15-9.