3-Cushion
ISTANBUL - For a moment, the Turkish crowd feared that Tayfun Tasdemir was being blindsided by an elderly Egyptian gentleman. Their hero weathered the storm and countered in time, on a day that was full of see-saw battles and upsets. Torbjörn Blomdahl, still the world's nr. 1, is on his way home, as is the reigning world champion, Sung-Won Choi. Marco Zanetti, who won everything two years ago is out, and one of the game's crown princes, Dani Sánchez, survided by the skin of his teeth. What Tayfun Tasdemir said (this will be a World Cup with 4 or 5 major contenders) was almost disproved on day 1.
Two of Tayfun's five were vulnerable, one barely escaped. Torbjörn Blomdahl did not have much of a chance against Dutchman Jean Paul de Bruijn (40-31 in 18), who had entered the tournament as third and last reserve player. Dick Jaspers had a lightning start against Jérémy Bury (20-7 in 6), but took off the pressure and had to work hard to win from 26-24, which turned into 40-33 in 26. Dani Sánchez took even more chances against Anh Vu Duong. The Vietnamese player took the lead after the halftime break and the Spaniard looked hurt and empty at the end. He did make the final point though, from 39-39, and he was mighty relieved.
Tayfun Tasdemir must have wondered what was happening, when his Egyptian veteran opponent had 27 points after 11 innings (2.455), and he was at 19. He woke up in time and changed gears, to get to 29-28 and 40-31 in 23. The first day revelations? Spaniard Carlos Crespo, who had been away from the circuit for quite a while. He was once runner-up behind Filippos Kasidokostas at the junior WC, but put his sport on the back burner for years. ,,My studies came first'', he said earlier this year in Porto, where he shone with a win over Quyet Chien Tran, to be eliminated by Jean Paul de Bruijn in the next round. Crespo trailed against Zanetti (21-9 in 8), came back at 28-25 and almost playfully got to 37-28 and finally 40-31 in 20.
Jean Paul de Bruijn, who had recently tumbled out of the top-12, was the other player who showed he can slay a dragon. The way he had crawled into the main draw naturally made him an underdog, but in his match with Blomdahl he showed no timidity. At 18-13 the Swede came back with a run of 7, but JP had the decisive runs. From 32-29 he finished, to win 40-31 in 18. It made him one of four players over 2 average: Jung Han Heo being the best winner against Javier Palazón (40-18 in 16). Dick Jaspers shone early in his match with a run of 15, and it looked like an easy match then. But after halftime, it was mostly Bury at the table. Frédéric Caudron played a crafty and quick match, being aware that he wants to do well in this tournament. In his next match though, he'll face Dick Jaspers.
Sung-Won Choi found himself in a battle to the death with Xuan Cuong Ma, who edged the world champion 40-39. Other highlights: Quyet Chien Tran, watched by Turkish cameras during his match against Semih Sayginer. The Vietnamese was the cooler player in the home stretch (40-35 in 23). Murat Naci Coklu confirmed his good play from earlier in the week, to get past the dangerous Nick Polychronopoulos, 40-25 in 21.
Jaspers: run of 15
The Saturday sessions,:
12.00 uur (Turkish time):
De Bruijn-Forthomme
Heo-Sánchez
Nguyen-Cho
Hwang-Merckx
14.00 uur:
Ma-Tran
Tasdemir-Coklu
Crespo-Piedrabuena
Caudron-Jaspers.
The quarterfinals are at 17.00 and 19.00 uur.
Tayfun Tasdemir: countered in time
Caudron: three-rail pique
Piedrabuena: sneaking up on the top-12