SHARM EL SHEIKH - The 48-year-old Choong Bok Lee once was among the Big Five of Korean billiards with Kyung Roul Kim (who died in 2015), Sung-won Choi and two players, Jae Ho Cho and Dong Koong Kang, who left for the PBA circuit. For the first time since some years, Lee returned to a World Cup: he started in Sharm El Sheikh today with two wins and 1,578 on average. That made him the best day winner on the second day of play, followed by another Korean, Myeong Jong Cha and Turk Berkay Karakurt. Tomorrow (Tuesday), Therese Klompenhouwer, the ladies world champion will enter the tournament. And by coincidence, she is no stranger to Choong Bok Lee.
The Korean, who teaches billiards on one of the most famous TV channels in his country, had his best year in 2011. That year, he became Asian champion ahead of Choi, Kang and Cho and won the LGU Cup (50,000. euros) in the final with Tran. He then disappeared from the international stage two years ago, after one of his last appearances was in the World Cup in Guri, 2019. There, he lost to Therese Klompenhouwer in the preliminary round, 30-20 in 20 innings and was eliminated from the main event.
On the second day in Sharm El Sheikh, Berkay Karakurt was the number three after two Koreans in the day's ranking after a match in which he defeated Dutchman Jeffrey Jorissen. The Turk, who finished second to Can Capak in an important Turkish tournament last week, had the better final sprint than Jorissen, one of the revelations in the Veghel World Cup. Just after the halfway point, Karakurt took a lead (25-17), Jorissen came back to 25-23, who was offered a last chance in the equalizer at 30-23, but he missed at 30-28. That last retry with 5 was enough for qualification, as Jorissen became second runner-up after Turk Ilbay Dagdelen and ahead of Jose Maria Mas. Three men from the best losers' group went to the next round after cancellations of Del Salto from Ecuador, Thomas Andersen from Denmark and Kostas Kokkoris from Greece.
Among the four Koreans for the new session was Ji Hun Ahn, who survived five rounds in Veghel and was only eliminated in the last sixteen by Tayfun Tasdemir. Here, in Sharm El Sheikh, were also three Turks among the directly qualified players on the second day, two Egyptians, two Germans, two French, one Jordanian, one Austrian and one Spaniard.
Ji Hun Ahn was responsible for the elimination of Jose Maria Mas (30-18 in 19), Choong Bok Lee knocked out Hugo Patino (30-20 in 24), Gregory Le Deventec lost his last match to Jordy de Kruijf (30-27 in 23), but was on average best in his group of three players with two match points.
Lukas Stamm, a 29-year-old German who finished third in the German championship two years ago after Martin Horn and Ronny Lindemann, eliminated Turkish Mujde Karakasli 30-16 in 23, Jean Reverchon and Nikolaus Kogelbauer did the same with young Korean Jieun Han. The Frenchman also defeated Kogelbauer with 30-20 in 28 and became group winner.
Tom Löwe, a young German talent, lost his qualification on one carom by a loss to Gerhard Kostistanski: 30-29 in 22 innings. The most striking group winner was Jordanian Ahmed Al-Ghababsheh in a group with Cetin Behzat and Jordi Garriga.
The final ranking on the second day:
Choong Bok Lee 4-1.578-10
Myeong Jong Cha 4-1.538-13
Berkay Karakurt 4-1,538-9
William Oh 4-1.395-7
Gerhard Kostistanski 4-1,333-8
Carlos Crespo 4-1,176-6
Savas Gungor 4-1.090-7
Jean Reverchon 4-1,090-4
Lukas Stamm 4-1,016-7
Ahmed Al-Ghababsheh 4-0.845-6
Hesham Zaghloul 4-0.606-5
Salah Farouk 4-0.521-4
Muhammed Cavusoglu 2-1.428-7
Ji Hun Ahn 2-1,250-10
Gregory Le Deventec 2-1,140-7
Hakan Celik 2-1,043-5
Choong Bok Lee, the day's best on Monday
Berkay Karakurt, a win against Jeffrey Jorissen, tomorrow they meet again
Jeffrey Jorissen, a new chance against Karakurt
Routined French player Jean Reverchon both beat Nikolaus Kogelbauer and Jieun Han
Carlos Crespo from Spain, two wins, sixth in the day ranking
29 year old German player Lukas Stamm outplayed Turkish lady Müjde Karakasli
Spaniard Jose Maria Mas was the last to join the field for Tuesday as the third reserve player
Most interesting groups for Tuesday:
Therese Klompenhouwer has to pass Gwendal Maréchal to qualify. Dutch Master Ludo Kools meets a Jordanian and a Turk in his group. Three Koreans, with strong Choong Bok Lee and Ja In Kang, play with each other in a group. Jeffrey Jorissen gets a second chance against Berkay Karakurt and meets another Turk, Tolgahan Kiraz, on his way to more success. The Dutchman, who was hoping fervently for his new chance, will stay in Sharm El Sheikh at least for another week, as he is also first reserve for the World Championships being held there.
The groups with some well known players:
Group A: Therese Klompenhouwer, Gwendal Maréchal, Hakan Celik
Group C: Kevin Vasseur, Ji Hun Ahn, Ragay Henry
Group E: Mohsen Fouda, Hesham Zaghloul, Robinson Morales
Group F: Radek Novak, Ahmed Al-Ghababsheh, Barry van Beers
Group G: Ludo Kools, Muhammed Cavusoglu, Mashhour Abu Tayeh
Group I: Jean Reverchon, Claus Maurer, Ronny Lindemann
Group L: Jose Miguel Soares, Gerhard Kostistansky, Peter De Backer
Group M: Jan Ales, William Oh, David Pennör
Group N: Tolgahan Kiraz, Berkay Karakurt, Jeffrey Jorissen
Group P: Choong Bok Lee, Ja In Kang, Sung Il Jeong.
Pictures: Hervé Lacombe and Paul Brekelmans