SEOUL/INCHEON - The turbulent days in the world of billiards have not affected Frédéric Caudron's world class and high ranking. The 51-year old Belgian won the Survival 3C Masters this Sunday afternoon and was rewarded with the 50,000 dollar top prize and made big jumps in the arena of the Seoul billiard room. The emotions on the winner's face were clearly visible after he had shown the better of three other crowned Europeans, Marco Zanetti, Eddy Merckx and Dick Jaspers in the final. A question asked by a Korean reporter, Caudron showed his poker face. "Do you think, Mr. Caudron, that you will soon be the number 1 in the world again?" The answer in the camera: "Oh, no, because the circumstances will be different."
It is not improbable that Caudron will move to a new organization, but the speculations about that are still very vague after this week in the Survival tournament. Surely, three of the other four finalists will not. The door, nevertheless, is still open to negotiations between the world federation and the new league, so that a separation could be avoided.
Frédéric Caudron distanced himself from all commotion and focused on billiards these days. The Korean-based format in the Survival, with four players at the billiards at same time, a special count and lots of tension in the final stages, forced the later winner to fascinating battles. The averages among the top players were very high, often well over two, but still the last caroms and the last minutes of the matches were decisive. Caudron scored two times in the final in his last inning to pass Marco Zanetti. His last, far from an easy shot, brought Caudron to the highest podium for Zanetti, Merckx and Jaspers.
''I think this was my lucky day, or my lucky week'', Caudron commented in his reaction. He surely forced it himself, most of all in the last game, but also in the semi-finals and quarter finals, in which he finished second behind Jae-Ho Cho and Eddy Merckx. In that penultimate round, the four Europeans dealt with top guns from the Asian countries, who were not on the podium in the game they invented themselves.
The prize money for the finalists:
Frédéric Caudron 50,000 dollars
Marco Zanetti 21,000
Eddy Merckx 18,000
Dick Jaspers 15,000.
The podium left to right: Marco Zanetti, Frédéric Caudron, Eddy Merckx, Dick Jaspers
Caudron shows his joy after his last point
The final ranking in the final:
1 Frédéric Caudron 78-2.071-10
2 Marco Zanetti 74-2.000-7
3 Eddy Merckx 54-1.642-5
4 Dick Jaspers 34-1.285-5.
The first clash for a place in the finals turned into a one-man show by Marco Zanetti, who started his attack with a run of 15 in the third and held his lead until the end. Dick Jaspers and Dinh Nai Ngo took the second place, because Myung-Woo Cho was far behind his competitors from the start. Jaspers was a slow starter and was even at 3 points, eight minutes before the stop.
The second part started with Zanetti on 69, Ngo on 25 and Jaspers on 17. The final phase came up with equal chances for the two pursuers: Jaspers and Ngo on 60. At ten minutes before the end, Jaspers took his ultimate chance scoring a run of six (70-58). That was decisive to join the finals. Zanetti finished at 97 and remained the sovereign leader.
The Belgians Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron shared the main prizes in the second semi-final. The showdown in the last minutes was breathtaking. Four players were still in the race in the last inning. That tension came to the fore already before the break (with three players at 27) and at the stop with Caudron 68, Merckx 58, Jae-Ho Cho 59 and Dani Sánchez 59. The battle continued in the second part with varying chances.
With 20 minutes on the clock, Caudron was leading: 67 points, Sánchez 63, Merckx 59 and Cho 51. The Korean overtook Merckx with a short attack, but all four remained close to each other in sight of the finish line. The Belgian fired up the pressure on Cho and Sánchez, Merckx took the lead with a run of six. And his kindness for Caudron (defensive position for Cho) kept his countryman into the race, because Cho missed that tough 'renversee'. Dani Sánchez still could eliminate Caudron in his last inning, but the Spaniard, who needed 8 points to survive, missed at 7. The group was by far the strongest of two semi-finals with averages well above two.
The rankings in the semi-finals:
1 Marco Zanetti 97-2.214-15
2 Dick Jaspers 69-1.714-6
3 Dinh Nai Ngo 49-1.357-6
4 Myung Woo Cho 25-0.928-3.
1 Eddy Merckx 68-2.461-6
2 Frédéric Caudron 60-2.307-6
3 Dani Sánchez 56-2.230-7
4 Jae-Ho Cho 56-2.230-8.
Marco Zanetti, close to victory in the final match with four
Eddy Merckx, second Belgian in an all Europe final
Dick Jaspers, the world champion, not on his best in the final
Marco Zanetti, topscorer in the semi finals
Eddy Merckx, winner in the semi-final with a last rush
Dick Jaspers to the last four in Marco's slipstream
Frédéric Caudron, the second Belgian for the final round
Dinh Nai Ngo, strong performance, just outside best four
Dani Sánchez missed out on his last point
Myung-Woo Cho was not on his best in the last eight