3-Cushion
HO CHI MINH - Two big champions have already left the scene after one day at the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh. Dick Jaspers was the first who went out against Korean Kang, Dani Sánchez followed one round later when he lost to Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran. The tournament in the Vietnamese millions city continues without the number one of the world and the world champion. What a sensational start.
Dani Sánchez was eliminated and therefore missed the opportunity to become the new number one of the world. Dick Jaspers stays on top, but Frédéric Caudron can treat him. The Spaniard Sánchez was outplayed by a fantastic run of Quyet Chien Tran, who was 28-22 down and scored a 16 that brought him near to the finish line (28-38). Two innings later, the match was done and Sánchez was robbed from an illusion: 40-30 in 17.
Eddy Merckx performed even better in his match against Trung Hau Do Nguyen, another Vietnamese. The Belgian scored a wonderful 18 (!) on his way to victory in the 10th inning. He finished 40-11 in 11. That was the best match so far in this World Cup.
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, the public hero in Ho Chi Minh, passed Semih Sayginer in the score with a ten-run in the 18th inning (30-27) and also had the better final print: 40-33 in 23. Chi Yeon Cho won the Korean match against Hyun Min Seo 40-28 in 24.
The next matches coming up:
Blomdahl-Ho
Heo-Jae Guen Kim
Polychronopoulos-Um
Leppens-Tasdemir
Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran outplayed the world champion Dani Sánchez