ANTALYA - The illusion of 40-year-old Jordanian Abu Tayeh just lasted under ten innings in his last performance. Then, in a speed attack, Dani Sánchez, who is very famous in the eyes of his opponent, ran after being 7-0 and 14-12 down after six innings to a generous lead. The rankings were restored, professionals were separated from amateurs in these final sessions. No matter how great the two-day performance of the Jordanian bookkeeper from Amman, with a victory over Jose-Maria Mas, had been. The spectacle in those ultimate sessions, among others, came from, Michael Nilsson and Duc Chien Nguyen, the number two in the last World championship.
The Swedish giant, who had a bad run-up at the Europeans for nations with Torbjörn Blomdahl (below 1 average in two matches), suddenly showed another glimpse of his high class against Korean Sung Il Jeong in a match in which both glittered with runs of 15. The victory went to reborn Michael Nilsson, 40-28 in 11 innings (3,636 to 2,545). "The match was stopped for 20 minutes due to the computer went down," Nilsson said afterwards. ''My opponent made 15 shortly after the stop, I finished 15, 4 and 2 after the long break in the last three innings.''
The new star at Vietnamese firmament, Duc Chien, stumbled in the next round in his first match on one carom over the same Korean Jeong, which made the outcome very interesting. Nilsson could even afford losing with a big score to still finish group winner. For a while it looked threatening at 26-7 in 11, but there was no danger at all for the Swede. With all his routine, Nilsson was able to score fearlessly and enough to turn into group winner.
The ticket for the main draw was no longer in danger. The sudden line up on the second day, the Swede said, was due to the change of his butt. ‘'The other was lighter, with the new I felt much better. My second match, by the way, was not as comfortable as it looked. I'd rather like to play against my opponent than against innings. Moreover, I never feel comfortable playing against these guys.'' The World Cup was over for Duc Chien after day 1, because with 1,755 on average, he finished only third in his group.
Dani Sánchez finally showed his muscles to the Jordanian, who was pretty unknown before, but already played his seventh World Cup. The score was 40-18 in 18 innings. Mashhour Abu Tayeh, as his full name is, said goodbye to Antalya and proudly returns to his country, where he explained to us there are only 40 players and two match tables throughout the capital Amman with its 4 million people. ''I felt great to have a head start, but I lacked experience, because I never played a famous player like Dani Sánchez.'' The Spanish champion finished it off and was the best of the last qualifying round ahead of Yusuke Mori (4, 1,7390), Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (4, 1,692), Roland Forthomme (4, 1,666) and Chang Hoon Seo (4, 1,666).
Young Japanese Yusuke Mori eliminated Dinh Nai Ngo in his last match 40-26 in 23 and previously Gwendal Maréchal 40-34 in 23. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen was the better of Dustin Jäschke and Myeong Jong Cha, Roland Forthomme was impressive against Manol Minaoglu and Jacob Sörensen and Chang Hoon Seo sent Nikos Polychronopoulos to the exit of the tournament 40-21 in 19 innings. Gökhan Salman finished as the excellent winner in a group in which three players were matching: the Turk remained unbeaten with 1,600 ahead of Dion Nelin 1,431 and Thomas Andersen, who lost twice 40-39 and scored 1,500. ''I must learn that matches go to 40 points'', the Dane commented with a smile.
The top 12 showed three Nguyens, French player Jérôme Barbeillon was just like the day before best runner-up with a great score: 2 match points and 1,850 on average. Tomorrow, Friday, the main draw starts with 8 groups of four players. Big name players are already facing against each other and very attractive matches are coming up in the schedule.
The final day of the preliminaries showed high runs:
Michael Nilsson, Sung Il Jeong and Dion Nelin 15, Roland Forthomme 14, Muharrem Peker 13, Chang Hoon Seo 12, Dani Sánchez and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 11. The most known players who were eliminated were Nikos Polychronopoulos (2 match points, 1,605), Dion Nelin (2, 1,431), Duc Anh Chien Nguyen (2, 1,755), Jacob Sörensen (1, 1,271), Thomas Andersen (0, 1,500), Gwendal Maréchal (0, 1,487).
The ranking after the last qualification round:
1 Dani Sánchez 4-2,285-11
2 Yusuke Mori 4-1.739-9
3 Nguyen Quoc Ngugyen 4-1,692-11
4 Roland Forthomme 4-1.666-14
5 Chang Hoon Seo 4-1.666-12
6 Gökhan Salman 4-1.600-10
7 Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen 4-1.403-10
8 Trung Hau Do Nguyen 4-1.403-10
9 Jun-Tae Kim 4-1.290-7
10 Sung-Won Choi 3-1.777-8
11 Jung Han Heo 3-1.777-7
12 Michael Nilsson 2-2.166-15
Runners-up:
1 Jérôme Barbeillon 2-1.850-8
2 Sung Il Jeong 2-1.837-15
3 Dinh Nai Ngo 2-1.692-10
Main draw, first day:
Poule A: Dick Jaspers, Dinh Nai Ngo, Yusuke Mori, Pedro Gonzalez
Poule B: Marco Zanetti, Sung Il Jeong, Dani Sánchez, Lütfi Cenet
Poule C: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Jérôme Barbeillon, Jae-Ho Cho, Can Capak
Poule D: Eddy Merckx, Martin Horn, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Michael Nilsson
Poule E: HaengJik Kim, Jung Han Heo, Myung Woo Cho, Roland Forthomme
Poule F: Tayfun Tasdemir, Chang Hoon Seo, Sung-Won Choi, Murat Naci Coklu
Poule G: Quyet Chien Tran, Jun-Tae Kim, Jérémy Bury, Gökhan Salman
Poule H: Sameh Sidhom, Semih Sayginer, Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen, Trung Hau Do Nguyen.
Michael Nilsson, amazing start on second day after a modest run-up
Jordan player Abu Tayeh, three wins, outplayed by Dani Sánchez, from a country with only 40 players and two match tables
Thomas Andersen, two losses with 40-39 scores. ''I must learn that matches are to 40 points.''
Peter De Backer, big smile after his first win, in his second match outplayed by former world champion Sung-Won Choi