NEW YORK - Will it be Therese (Klompenhouwer) again, who prolongs her title and takes her revenge for the loss of her world title? Can Orie (Hida), the new world champion, strike again in this strong field of players? Will Mi Rae Lee, the new Korean kid on the block, find her good shape right in time after a moderate run-up? Or will it be Ryoko Kobayashi with a daunting surprise? The Jennifer Shim International approaches the show-down in the Carom Cafe in New York. Four players are left for the main prizes: Therese Klompenhouwer from the Netherlands, Orie Hida from Japan, Mi Rae Lee from South Korea and Ryoko Kobayashi from Japan.
The two top favorites in this field, Therese Klompenhouwer and Orie Hida, remained unbeaten and enter the final day with a lot of confidence. Therese recorded the best average (12 match points, 1.095), Orie finished with ten match points in a group with six and 0.969. Two other Japanese favorites, Natsumi Higashiuchi and Namiko Hayahi, won all their matches in the prelims, but were eliminated in the quarters on Saturday night. Ryoko Kobayashi defeated Namiko Hayashi in a thrilling match end: 30-28 in 46. Mi Rae Lee, finally at her real level, dealt with Natsumi Hayashi 30-24 in 31. Therese Klompenhouwer won the one way match against her compatriot Karina Jetten, who played an excellent run-up, but was far in the shadow of Hida in the group and Klompenhouwer in the quarterfinal (30-10 in 24). Orie Hida was a bridge too far for another young Korean, Ji-Eun Han: 30-17 in 28.
The decisive matches for the number 1 and 2 positions in the groups:
Group A: Higashiuchi-Han 25-21 in 35
Group B: Hida-Jetten 25-6 in 17
Group C: Klompenhouwer-Kobayashi 25-5 in 14
Group D: Hayashi-Lee 25-14 in 32.
The best match so far came from Therese Klompenhouwer (25 in 14) and the Dutch world's number one was the best in the quarterfinals as well (30 in 24). The best run so far with 7 was made by Orie Hida, Karina Jetten and Jessica Caudron.
The semi-finals are today, Saturday at 10.00 (New York time), Therese Klompenhouwer-Mi Rae Lee, the second semi-final Orie Hida-Ryoko Kobayashi is at 12.00. The final match is at 14.45.
The final result after the prelims:
1 Therese Klompenhouwer 12-1.095-6
2 Orie Hida 10-0.969-7
3 Namiko Hayashi 12-0.789-5
4 Natsumi Higashiuchi 12-0.754-6
5 Je-Eun Han 10-0.643-6
6 Mi Rae Lee 10-0.573-4
7 Karina Jetten 8-0.768-7
8 Ryoko Kobayashi 8-0.574-4
The final rankings in the groups:
Group A:
Natsumi Higashiuchi (Japan) is the best of all in her six games, only Ji-Eun Han is missing only four caroms. The Japanese group winner plays her best match against Ruth Segura in 30 innings. Ji-Eun Han is a good second with only one loss. Arzu Gök, Jessica Caudron and Mercedes Gonzalez take three matches, the best match is from Ji-Eun Han in 29 against Jessica Caudron.
1 Natsumi Higashiuchi 12-0.754-6
2 Ji-Eun Han 10-0.643-6
3 Mercedes Gonzalez 6-0.595-6
4 Arzu Gök 6-0.480-4
5 Jessica Caudron 6-0.472-7
6 Ruth Segura 2-0.255-3
7 Chantal Seves 0-0.121-3
Group B:
The Japanese world champion Orie Hida is superior in her matches and only gets a bit resistance from Helga Mitterböck (25-17), who only manages to win one match. Karina Jetten only remains far behind against Hida (15-7), but shines with four wins, the best of which with 1.087 average. Shruong Pheavy has a disappointing start, but still finishes third in the grup with six, with three wins (best 0.962).
1 Orie Hida 10-0.969-7
2 Karina Jetten 8-0.768-7
3 Sruong Pheavy 6-0.554-5
4 Kazumi Hida 4-0.391-5
5 Helga Mitterböck 2-0.419-5
6 Alina Shim 0-0.315-4
Group C:
Therese Klompenhouwer, the tower-high favorite, wins her six matches and gets the most resistance from Sylvia Eckel (25-15) and Ji-Yeong Ha (25-14). The young Korean has chances for qualification, but loses her last and decisive match against Ryoko Kobayashi 25-12 in 25. The Japanese therefore finishes second behind Klompenhouwer.
1 Therese Klompenhouwer 12-1.095-6
2 Ryoko Kobayashi 8-0.574-4
3 Ji Yeong Ha 6-0.527-6
4 Monica Steinberger 6-0.373-5
5 Olivia Lee 4-0.414-4
6 Sylvia Eckel 4-0.377-4
7 See Won Oh 2-0.271-4
Group D:
The young Korean Mi Rae Lee, second at the last World championship in Belgium, suffers a poor start, loses without any chance against Namiko Hayashi (25-14), but then recovers from the downhill race: five wins in six matches. Namiko Hayashi takes them all six with a best match in 25 innings vs Yemy Mancipe. The French girl Mélanie Hallier debuts in an international event with a fifth place in the preliminary rounds. Ester Park finishes on third place with four wins, just outside the two qualifying places.
1 Namiko Hayashi 12-0.789-5
2 Mi Rae Lee 10-0.573-4
3 Ester Park 8-0.500-5
4 Hyun Ji Yong 6-0.502-6
5 Mélanie Hallier 2-0.303-3
6 Yeimy Mancipe 2-0.317-4
7 Rhio Anne Flores 2-0.220-4.
Therese Klompenhouwer (right) and Karina Jetten, the Dutch who bumped in the quarters
The world champion, Orie Hida, won her group and seems ready for the final day
Namiko Hayashi, unbeaten in the group stage, lost to Mi Rae Lee in the quarters
Frédéric Caudron's wife Jessica was one of the players with the best run so far: 7
Korean top gun Dong-Koong Kang arrived for the men's event and watched the ladies
Merrill Hughes, one of the organizers in the Carom Cafe, playing a game of table tennis between the matches
