TRABZON - The first blow Dick Jaspers handed out, must have felt as a knockout for his opponent. At the four billiards, on which the World Cup today in Trabzon continues, the Dutchman played at a great level. He smashed Frenchman Jerôme Barbeillon 3-0 with an average of 2.812.
Jaspers felt the billiards perfectly and didn't have any setback in his match. In the first set (with a run of seven), he finished in eight innngs after having missed two set balls, in the second (run of nine) he came to the finish in two innings with 15-2 and in the third set Jaspers started started with a ten and ended the set in six innings: 15-5.
Torbjörn Blomdahl started just as quickly in his match against Jung Han Heo. The Swede also showed in his first touches of the balls at the Novotel a fantastic shape, but had a fell back at a 2-0 lead. He gave his opponent the chance to return in the match, but the recovering of the Swede came rapidly. In the fourth set he made an unprecedented run of fourteen turns and finished in only three innings (15-5, 15-9, 11-15, 15-4).
Dick Jaspers in his match must have looked occasionally to the other table, where his next opponent was playing. Tomorrow he meets the Turkish champion Lütfi Cenet, who had announced a surprise befor the start of this World Cup. And indeed: Cenet didn't appear in the room with his long hair, but he gave himself a new look, a nice short headdress.
The Turkish audience enjoyed the performance of the champion on the first day, although Cenet was not scoring at the level of Jaspers and Blomdahl. Nevertheless he had a flawless match against Korean Jae Ho Cho. The Turk attacked at the right moments and won the match with some small runs and in straight sets: 15-9, 15-12 and 15-10.
Tayfun Tasdemir went up to the next round without much trouble. Gerhard Kostistansky could only threaten his opponent in the second set, when he brought the score at 1-1. Then Tasdemir came in his rhythm and took the next two sets (15-5 and 15-3, both in five innings).