ANTALYA - What happened to little Korean Hyung Bum Hwang after he was on the World Cup's podium two times in 2014 and 2015? The Asian star didn't shine anymore, because in these three years, he dropped to 67th position on the world ranking, two places behind Therese Klompenhouwer. In the Turkish arena of the Bosphorus hotel in Antalya, Hwang suddenly was back again, today, on the World Cup's third day. With a brilliant match against Murat Tüzül, who was knocked down 30-8 in 9 innings.
Before that high class match, in his first performance Hwang was the better of the young Japanese Yusuke Mori 30-26 in 21. The knock-out for Murat Tüzül was painful after an excellent start against Mori (30-19 in 17) and the best run of the day, 14. But most of all it was the day of Hwang, the little Korean who completely disappeared after his highlights in the 2014 World Cup in Hurghada, where Marco Zanetti won and Hwang was third and 2015 in Porto, where Hwang lost the final against Torbjörn Blomdahl. The return of the new Korean star, today, was remarkable, but can he return to this level again on the last qualifying day for the main event?
Hwang led the day's ranking this Wednesday ahead of Ji Hun Ahn, Birol Uymaz, Glenn Hofman and In-Won Kang. The Koreans were with six men in that top sixteen, the same as the Turks, also with six, joined by two Dutch, one Swede and one German. Omer Karakurt, Ronny Lindemann and Gökhan Salman missed out the qualification with high averages. Karakurt shone with 1.806, Lindemann with 1.676 and Salman with 1.500. Arnim Kahofer, who finished the day with an excellent win over Lindemann, even finished last in his group with two points, 1.636 of average and a run of 12. Lindemann was out of the game despite a first win against Kim in 16 innings.
The third day in Antalya was an unlucky day for Korean Chang Hoon Seo. Two times, he battled it out for the win in his matches against Glenn Hoffman and Jérôme Barbeillon, both times, Seo was outplayed in the final phase 30-29. The Dutchman Glenn Hofman, who comes from a blistering period of 18 victories in a row, was the better in the decider against his French opponent 30-22 in 19 innings and grabbed the group win.
Birol Uymaz won the Turkish clash with Omer Karakurt 30-26 in 16 and later defeated Japanese Kiyota 30-23 in 21. The group's number two, Karakurt, finished with a better average than the number one, Uymaz (1.806 against 1.621) after a victory over Kiyota in 15 innings.
Savas Bulut, the day's winner on Tuesday, again showed his good form, including his win in another Turkish fight against Ahmet Alp (30-25 in 21), but lost his last to the strong Truong 30-23 in 14.
Gökhan Salman finished with a strong 1.500, but it was not enough to survive, because Kwang Yeol Park remained unbeaten with 1,250. The Korean defeated Salman 30-27 in 19. In-Won Kang is in the winning mood already for a few days, also today in the tough group with Tolgahan Kiraz and Kostas Kokkoris, whom he sent to the second and third position.
The young Korean Jung Ju Shin had to bow for Savas Güngor (30-25 in 25). Jean Paul de Bruijn moves on to the last qualifications due to his better average with three match points and 1.428, after the draw in his last match against Turgay Orak. The Turk, also with three points, was left empty-handed with 1.304. Therese Klompenhouwer bumped on a very strong Ahn (30-21 in 18) and also lost the first match to Gwendal Maréchal 30-22 in 21.
Kostas Papakonstantinou is in a minor period and even lost to Ragay Henry, who in his last match finished far behind Jung Wan Lim (30-7 in 22). David Pennör defends the Swedish honor.
The day ranking on Wednesday:
1 Hyung Bum Hwang 4-2.000-11
2 Ji Hun Ahn 4-1.764-10
3 Birol Uymaz 4-1.621-7
4 Glenn Hofman 4-1.538-8
5 In-Won Kang 4-1.500-6
6 Muammer Rahmet 4-1.500-6
7 David Pennör 4-1.276-7
8 Savas Gungor 4-1.276-6
9 Cengiz Karaca 4-1.276-6
10 Jung Wan Lim 4-1.276-6
11 Kwang Yeol Park 4-1.250-6
12 Hakan Incekara 4-1.200-5
13 Hamit Akkaya 4-1.176-11
14 Jean Paul de Bruijn 3-1.428-6
15 Hyun-Suk Kim 2-1.677-8
16 Savas Bulut 2-1.514-10.
The groups for the last qualification round (12 group winners and four runners-up advance to the main draw):
Poule A: Hamit Akkaya, Hakan Incekara, Jae-Ho Cho
Poule B: Jean Paul de Bruijn, Kwang Yeol Park, Quyet Chien Tran
Poule C: Hyun-Suk Kim, Jung Wan Lim, Dong Koong Kang
Poule D: Savas Bulut, Cengiz Karaca, Minh Cam Ma
Poule E: Martin Horn, Savas Gungor, Anh Vu Duong
Poule F: Adnan Yüksel, David Pennör, Eddy Leppens
Poule G: Tonny Carlsen, Muammer Rahmet, David Martinez
Poule H: Seung Jin Lee, In-Won Kang, Lütfi Cenet
Poule I: Javier Palazón, Glenn Hofman, Roland Forthomme
Poule J: Jae-Guen Kim, Birol Uymaz, Xuan Cuong Ma
Poule K: Hyung Kon Kim, Ji Hun Ahn, Riad Nady
Poule L: Can Capak, Hyung Bum Hwang, Dinh Nai Ngo.
Ji Hun Ahn, the day's number two
In-Won Kang was impressive in the pre-rounds so far
Glenn Hofman, one of two Dutch who is in the next round