VEGHEL – Multi-winner Dick Jaspers took his first World Cup in Veghel this Saturday night and his 28th World Cup in his entire career. That success in wonderful Veghel was still missing on the record list of the 58-year-old Dutch star in three-cushion. Playing for his own audience, in an arena with full stands, Jaspers beat German Martin Horn in the final match 50-22 in 12 innings (4.166 on average), a unique level for a final match in a World Cup. Also on the podium were Eddy Merckx and Jean Paul de Bruijn, winners of bronze in this World Cup. Young Dutchman Sam van Etten (27) was awarded the €500 prize for the Most Valuable Player. Winning his 28 World Cups in the Netherlands, Dick Jaspers won three times in Oosterhout and twice in Sluiskil. In three World Cups in Veghel, Jaspers did not yet finish as winner. ’’I always play to win, but this was really special. The World Cup in Veghel is an event to be proud of. I hear that from many players. I am very happy with it, because so far this year I couldn’t show much in the World Cups.''
Jaspers' dominance was shown by the high average, 2,480 and high runs of 17 and 12, among other things. For the Netherlands, the World Cup was a huge success: Jean Paul de Bruijn finished in 3rd place in the final ranking, Sam van Etten came 9th. Most of all, the young promising player overpowered himself with a victory against Marco Zanetti, the Italian who lost his first place in the rankings.In the Holland-Germany final, Jaspers started with 10 and took a 19-1 lead over the German, who could not come back from that big deficit. The Dutchman achieved an improbable average with runs of 9, 5, 7 and 6 in his last five innings. ’’Things went very well for me, I had a flawless feeling in these last days,'' Jaspers said later.He beat Jean Paul de Bruijn in the semi-finals 50-25 in 19, and in the quarter-finals Nikos Polychronopoulos, the Greek player of the amazing run of 25, with 50-45 in 20/19 innings.
Dick Jaspers is living in a hectic time these weeks: just back from eight days in China to give demonstrations, leaving again in a few days for South Korea for the next World Cup. His fitness and moral resilience are being tested, but Jaspers shows no glimmer of fatigue.
The World Cup went to a podium with only Europeans. Dick Jaspers: ’’That could be because we are not jet-lagged and did not have to travel long distances. The Koreans and Vietnamese are in another position. They arrive in a cold country, we feel at home here. But to be honest, I have also won enough World Cups and tournaments in Asia.''
Young Korean Myung Woo Cho rises to the top spot in the world rankings after this World Cup. He dethrones Italian Marco Zanetti. It is his first time topping the rankings for little Cho.
Semi-finals:
Dick Jaspers-Jean Paul de Bruijn 50-19 in 19
The Dutch clash between two friends for years did not show the fierce battle that was expected. Both Jaspers and De Bruijn shone in the quarter-finals with wonderful final runs of 8 and 10. The mutual meeting started with a 'six' for Jaspers, who therefore launched the match. De Bruijn only scored 'ones' in his first 8 innings and fell behind when Dick Jaspers ran out with 8 to 32-18 (13th inning). Jaspers finally struck with 12 for a score of 49-20. Three innings later, Jaspers finished 50-25 in 19. Therefore he qualified for his first final in a Veghel World Cup.
Martin Horn-Eddy Merckx 50-45 in 28
There was tension from the start in this match, in which Martin Horn played for a better ranking and Eddy Merckx (if he won the World Cup) would even become the new number 1 in the world rankings. The two rivals drew level on the tenth inning (20-20), Eddy Merckx was the first to attack with two 3-runs and two 4 runs for a score of 34-22. Horn's counter with a run of 10 opened the final phase, in which Merckx saw his opponent pass because of his 7 zeros. The turning point came when Dutch referee Willem Hofman counted a carom from Merckx, which the Belgian himself did not see. He was allowed to continue and made a six for a score of 42-41. Martin Horn had the best final sprint and won the match 50-45 in 28/27.
The Veghel World Cup had wonderful moments in the preliminary stages. Nikos Polychronopoulos, the Greek whirlwind attacked the world record highest run (28), but missed on 25. The deathly silence in the stands, mesmerized by that fantastic run, launched a World Cup where so much stunt work was on display, including for the Dutch, with high runs: Dick Jaspers (17), Harrie van de Ven (15) and Glenn Hofman (14). Marco Zanetti was the first major champion to leave the World Cup by losing in the thriller against young Dutchman Sam van Etten 40-39 in 21. The world champion Phuong Vinh Bao followed with the elimination in the same round of Sameh Sidhom in a group of four with Berkay Karakurt and Jung Han Heo. Next up was Tayfun Tasdemir, the recently retired world champion, who was sent home by Jun Tae Kim and Ruben Legazpi.
In the round with the best 16, Eddy Merckx eliminated Torbjörn Blomdahl 50-17 (!), Nikos Polychronopoulos the next Vietnamese, Quyet Chien Tran and Jung Han Heo had no respect for Myung Woo Cho, who was making a bid for number 1 position in the world. Sam van Etten, the young Dutchman with a great future, came across an ex-winner in Veghel, Haeng Jik Kim.
The two best Dutchmen continue to win: Dick Jaspers against Jun Tae Kim with a final run of 8, Jean Paul de Bruijn against Ruben Legazpi with a final run of 10. That resulted in the final rounds with four Europeans: Dick Jaspers (beats Polychronopoulos), Eddy Merckx (wins against Heo), Jean Paul de Bruijn (wins against Thai) and Martin Horn (beats Haeng Jik Kim).
The World Cup in Veghel so will have a new winner after Haeng Jik Kim, Dani Sánchez and Torbjörn Blomdahl in previous years. The BEN organization was very satisfied with the turnout of the huge audience. The tournament, with its many volunteers, ran smoothly.
Next year Veghel will return to the calendar again, and in the following year (2025) the organization will even be a candidate for a three-cushion World Championship and a World Cup in one week.
- The final ranking at the World Cup in Veghel:
- Dick Jaspers 14-2.480-17
- Martin Horn 10-1.870-12
- Eddy Merckx 9-1.892-10
- Jean Paul de Bruijn 8-1.598-11
- Nikos Polychronopoulos 6-2.030-25
- Jung Han Heo 6-1.663-9
- Hong Chiem Thai 6-1.430-8
- Haeng Jik 5-1.761-13
- Sam van Etten 6-1.505-10
- Berkay Karakurt 5-1.647-9
- Ruben Legazpi 5-1.637-10
- Quyet Chien Tran 4-1.704-13
- Myung Woo Cho 4-1.678-11
- Jérémy Bury 4-1.539-7
- Torbjörn Blomdahl 4-1.376-9
- Jun Tae Kim 3-1.636-9
- Thanh Luc Tran 3-1.544-8
- Peter Ceulemans 3-1.500-8
- Tayfun Tasdemir 3-1.437-9
- Phuong Vinh Bao 2-1.886-11
Top 10 in the new world ranking:
- Myung Woo Cho 358
- Marco Zanetti 357
- Torbjörn Blomdahl 354
- Dick Jaspers 348
- Quyet Chien Tran 331
- Eddy Merckx 319
- Sameh Sidhom 282
- Tayfun Tasdemir 259
- Haeng Jik Kim 258.
Dick Jaspers raises his arms for the victory in trhe final over Martin Horn
The winners podium with Sam van Etten (right) who won the award for Most Valuable player