HO CHI MINH - The multi-winner Frédéric Caudron was the best in a one-man-show in the second 2019 World Cup, played in the Vietnamese metropolis Ho Chi Minh. The 51-year-old Belgian, who climbed on the podium with his countrymen Roland Forthomme and Eddy Merckx and Italian Marco Zanetti, defeated Forthomme in the final match 40-19 in 15 innings. It was the 21st victory in a World Cup for Caudron. He earned the main prize with his win, 16,000 euros. The tournament was played at an unbelievably high level with a main tournament average of 1.726, 47 runs over 10 and for Caudron an average of 2.711 in the last four rounds.
The Belgian winner has given his total honor list, with 133 official national and international championships in all disciplines, even more glory with his victory in this World Cup. The Vietnamese crowd, which had to deal with a stage without its own favorites on the final day, rewarded Caudron with a thunderous ovation. The Belgian made a little leap of joy after the winning point before climbing the podium.
The final match was the convincing proof of Caudron's supremacy. With runs of ten, six and six, he overpowered Roland Forthomme, who, after a wonderful tournament, had no chance to threaten the grandmaster. The score levelled to 17-17, then Forthomme was left behind after six misses in a row and beaten 40-19 in 15 innings. Frédéric Caudron was the better of Eddy Merckx in the semi-finals (40-30 in 18), Roland Forthomme beat Marco Zanetti 40-38 in 14 innings.
The day on which the Vietnamese billiard arena was adorned with Belgian colors, started startd with a bizarre finish in the match between Forthomme and Zanetti. The 11th inning was memorable: Marco Zanetti had a 25-20 lead on the scoreboard before he went for his 11th walk to the table. With a sovereign run of 11, the Italian ran to a 36-20 margin. Roland Forthomme felt that it was his last chance to hit back and countered with 11. Three innings later, the match was over. The Belgian ran from 31-37 behind to the finish line with one and eight. Zanetti needed three hits for 40-40, but missed after the break shot: 40-38 in 14.
That tension was lacking in the Belgian clash between Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx, in which Caudron attacked after the break. The last leading score for Merckx was at 12-11 in 9 innings. Then, there was another highlight in the 14th inning, with a six for Merckx and a nine for Caudron (35-25 in 15 innings). The last counter, with a 5 for Merckx in the 18th inning, was not enough to come closer to Caudron. The Belgians could prepare for a Caudron-Forthomme final.
The Ho Chi Minh World Cup was dominated in the first days by Vietnamese and Korean players. Thanh Nguyen Phong, Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen and Thanh Luc Tran were the first day winners in the preliminaries. Duc Anh Chien Nguyen, the new star of Vietnamese three cushion, won the last qualification with an average of 2.500. Most surprising was the early elimination of Torbjörn Blomdahl and Sung-Won Choi in the pre-rounds.
Myung-Woo Cho, the young talent, was the first runner-up to join the main draw, but he shone in the first round as the best player with 2.666 average. The best run of the tournament was scored by HaengJik Kim with 18, Myung-Woo Cho made two runs of 17.
The tournament average was 1.726 in the main, 1.256 over the entire tournament.
The final ranking at Ho Chi Minh World Cup:
1 Frédéric Caudron 12-2.368-15
2 Roland Fothomme 10-1.717-11
3 Marco Zanetti 8-2.257-13
4 Eddy Merckx 8-1.770-8
5 Myung-Woo Cho 8-2.443-17
6 Tayfun Tasdemir 8-1.820-9
7 Semih Sayginer 7-2.030-13
8 Dinh Nai Ngo 5-2.072-9
9 Dick Jaspers 6-2.181-11
10 Eddy Leppens 6-1.722-15
11 Sameh Sidhom 5-1.408-7
12 Dani Sánchez 4-2.071-9
13 Murat Naci Coklu 4-1.746-13
14 Duc Anh Chien Nguyen 4-1.674-9
15 Erick Tellez 4-1.481-14
16 Birol Uymaz 3-1.773-10.
The new world ranking:
1 Dick Jaspers 506
2 Frédéric Caudron 394
3 Quyet Chien Tran 312
4 Semih Sayginer 303)
5 Eddy Merckx 296
6 Tayfun Tasdemir 285
7 Marco Zanetti 248
8 Jae-Ho Cho 219
9 Sameh Sidhom 218
10 Jérémy Bury 214
11 Murat Naci Coklu 206
12 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 205
13 Myung Woo Cho 184
14 Ngo Dinh Nai 179
15 Jung Han Heo 169
16 Sung Won Choi 163
17 Eddy Leppens 162
18 Torbjörn Blomdahl 155
19 Martin Horn 153
20 Haeng-Jik Kim 152
21 Ma Minh Cam 143
22 Filippos Kasidokostas 141
23 Dani Sanchez 140
24 Roland Forthomme 138
25 Robinson Morales 136