EL GOUNA - Two of the best Koreans and the Belgian Eddy Leppens lead the field of twelve players who survived four days of qualifications, to enter the main draw of the El Gouna World Cup. The last tournament of the year, played on the shores of the Red Sea, with Frédéric Caudron leading the race for the overall World Cup win, now enters the knockout stage, where these twelve will meet the world's best.
The top players from the qualifications were Jung-Han Heo (4 points 2.222), Haeng-Jik Kim (4-2.000) and Eddy Leppens (4 - 1.951). Six Koreans and five Turks survived the groups, along with one Belgian, one Greek, a German and a Dane. Many other reputed players, such as Tayfun Tasdemir, Javier Palazón, Sung-Won Choi and Pedro Piedrabuena, missed the qualification. Dave Christiani, the best player in the group stage for three days, had the saddest walk to the exit of all. The Dutchman lost his first match to Korean Kwang-Yeol Park and did not show up for his second match. He thought his match was scheduled much later, and he was taken out of the tournament.
Dave Christiani ate copious amounts of humble pie: ,,I was given the wrong idea by another Dutch player, who said my match was at 4. It turned out to be at one o' clock. I went to my room to get some rest, and switched off my phone. It is my own fault, I regret it deeply and it is unprofessional. I should have checked for myself, to see what the correct time was.'' Czeck Ivo Gazdos by the way, made the identical blunder.
Jung-Han Heo was one of the stars of the day, with matches in 19 and 20 innings. Haeng-Jik Kim in his second match beat Martin Horn 40-33 in 20. The German was the highest of the lucky losers, he advanced thanks to his high average of 1.780. Tayfun Tasdemir had an unusual day: he came back from a very large deficit against Hakan Incekara to win, finishing with a run of fifteen. Both Turks however, were beaten by the astonishing Myung-Woo Cho, the 18-year old new junior world champion.
Former Korean nr. 1 Jung-Han Heo led the strong flight with Tonny Carlsen and Juan David Zapata. Murat Naci Coklu, who recorded 1.818 and a run of thirteen, defends many ranking points but he looks up to the task. Murat Tüzül had a 14-inning match but it was not enough to cover for his loss against Lütfi Cenet. Sung-Won Choi, a former world champion, was beaten twice: by Jae Guen Kim and David Martinez. Ahhmet Alp surprisingly held his own against two Vietnamese players, Quoc Nguyen Nguyen and Xuan Cuong Ma. Eddy Leppens reigned supreme in his flight with Therese Klompenhouwer and Ihab El Messery (40-18 and 40-12).
To close the day, there was the group with Semih Sayginer, Javier Palazón and Birol Uymaz. The two Turks opened proceedings: Sayginer, semifinalist at the last WC, won 40-20 in 18. The loser, Uymaz, grabbed his minimal chance and beat Palazón 40-27 in 26. It turned the match between Sayginer and Palazón into a decider. The Spaniard had no mercy for Sayginer, but his win (40-21 in 23) was not enough to advance. Sayginer needed 20 points to win the group, got as far as 21 and breathed a sigh of relief.
The Belgian Eddy Leppens, on stage in Bordeaux, showed his form again
Haeng-Jik Kim, victory over Horn and in the top of the day rankingThe draw for the main tournament:
Thursday, 12.00 uur (Egyptian time):
Frédéric Caudron-Hyung Kon Kim
Quyet Chien Tran-Khaled Erfan
Dong-Koong Kang-Myung-Woo Cho
Sameh Sidhom-Kostas Kokkoris
14.00:
Jae-Ho Cho-Kwang-Yeol Park
Marco Zanetti-Henry Diaz
Jung-Han Heo-Roland Forthomme
Eddy Merckx-Choong-Bok Lee
16.00:
Dick Jaspers-Tonny Carlsen
Eddy Leppens-Ahmet Alp
Dani Sánchez-Jae-Guen Kim
Murat Naci Coklu-Murat Tüzül
18.00:
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Martin Horn
Jérémy Bury-Riad Nady
Haeng-Jik Kim-Lütfi Cenet
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Semih Sayginer
WC La Baule's winner Murat Naci Coklu in the main draw
Tayfun Tasdemir, a 15-run to the finish, but out of the game
The day's top twelve:
1 Jung-Han Heo 4-2.222-9
2 Haeng-Jik Kim 4-2.000-9
3 Eddy Leppens 4-1.951-12
4 Murat Naci Coklu 4-1.818-13
5 Jae Guen Kim 4-1.777-6
6 Kwang-Yeol Park 4-1.600-7
7 Choong-Bok Lee 4-1.509-7
8 Myung-Woo Cho 4-1.454-9
9 Lütfi Cenet 4-1.269-9
10 Semih Sayginer 2-1487-8
11 Kostas Kokkoris 2-1.460-7
12 Ahmet Alp 2-1.102-4
Three runners-up for the main draw:
1 Martin Horn 2-1.780-7
2 Murat Tüzül 2-1.622-7
3 Tonny Carlsen 2-1.615-9.
Javier Palazón defeated Sayginer, it was not enough to continue
Jae-Guen Kim outplayed David Martinez in his last match
Semih Sayginer, narrow escape despite loss against Palazón