BOGOTA – The World Cup in Colombia is gearing up for the arrival of two world-famous players and enters the final qualifiers today (Thursday). Torbjörn Blomdahl and Phuong Vinh Bao, the Swede with six world titles, the Vietnamese with one, are entering the tournament to make a bid for qualification to the main draw. Wan Young Choi, with his distinctive playing style, was the first Korean to distinguish himself with a day victory on Wednesday. He finished as the day's winner with 4 match points, 1.891, and a run of 12. Second place went to Mikaël Devogelaere from France, ahead of Colombians Andres Lizarazo and Alejandro Piza.
The Colombian group winners were reduced to four players; the Mexicans, French, and Turks each had two group winners. For the Netherlands, Volkan Cetin was unfortunately eliminated: undefeated, but with one more inning than Javier Vera. The Mexican is playing today in a group with Merlin Romero, who has survived all rounds so far. Sam van Etten faces Phuong Vinh Bao in his group, while Torbjörn Blomdahl faces a tough obstacle: he is paired with TTT Nguyen and Mikaël Devogelaere.
Merlin Romero (with 35 in 15, 2,333, run 13), Wan Young Choi (35 in 15), and Jose Maria Mas (35 in 17) were strong match winners on Wednesday. For the Turks, Ahmet Alp and Muammer Rahmet advanced to the next round, while Mikaël Devogelaere and Gwendal Maréchal shone for the French, who saw Pierre Soumagne and Maxime Panaia eliminated from the tournament. For the Netherlands, Sam van Etten advanced, Volkan Cetin was eliminated as the best runner-up. That also applied to Gerhard Kostistansky and the strong Colombian Pedro Gonzalez, who had to leave the tournament with only 1 match point.
The daily winners on Wednesday were:
- Wan Young Choi 4-1.891-12
- Mikaël Devogelaere 4-1.666-11
- Andres Lizarazo 4-1.627-11
- Alejandro Piza 4-1.627-7
- Gwendal Maréchal 4-1.428-6
- Daniel Morales 4-1.296-8
- Tom Löwe 4-1.228-7
- Muammer Rahmet 4-1.186-10
- Ahmet Alp 4-1.147-6
- Sam van Etten 4-1.129-7
- Luis Martinez 4-1.076-6
- Javier Vera 3-1,346-6
- Merlin Romero 3-1.320-13
- Jose Maria Mas 2-1.347-13
- Alejandro Santiago 2-1.307-10
- Raymon Groot 2-1.232-2
French player Mikaël Devogelaere in top three