3-Cushion
EL GOUNA - In the World Cup arena in El Gouna, on the second day of playing, two strong Dutch and two Spanish young guns faced each other for a titan fight. Glenn Hofman and Dave Christiani were in the same group and met in the early sessions. Andres Carrion and Juan David Zapata were also linked together. The brothers clashes turned into two thrillers. Two draws postponed the outcome to the later matches in the group stage. Chang Hoon Seo, the best runner-up on the first day, led the ranking on the second day with four match points and 1.667 average.
Juan David Zapata and Andres Carrion went together all the way to 30-30 in 25 innings. Dave Christiani stumbled just before the finish in a run of four (29-27), finished in the next inning and saw Glenn Hoffman equalize with one from the break. The decision had to fall in the last matches: Zapata and Carrion were facing the Dutch Sylvia Eckel. Christiani and Hofman met the German Walter Jurado.
Dave Christiani started the battle and beat Jurado 30-13 in 23 innings. The mission for Hofman was clear. He had to defeat Jurado in less than 23 innings and did well: 30-10 in 20. Juan David Zapata was the first to play against Sylvia Eckel and won 30-6 in 18 innings. The other Spaniard, Andres Carrion, needed too many innings to pass his country man: 30-7 in 27.
The question circulated whole day how many best losers would advance to the next round. That was particularly important for the groups with the two Spaniards and the two Dutch. At the end of the day, only one best loser was allowed to go on. Dave Christiani was the lucky one. The Dutchman didn't come to the arena in the last laps. ,,I can't look at it'', Christiani said. The tension was felt until the very last matches, because Barry van Beers and Bernard Baudoin balanced until the end. The Frenchman would have been the best loser when he played a draw, but he won the match 30-27 in the last innings. Barry van Beers therefore was eliminated.
The highlights on the second day came from William Oh, who closed his match against the young Belgian Andy de Bondt with runs of six and ten: 30-22 in 15. The Japanese Yusuke Mori knocked out Ronny Brants including a run of eleven: 30-19 in 26. Omer Karakurt, the former European junior champion, first outplayed Frenchman Kevin Vasseur (30-9 in 17) and wasn't in trouble against Mashhour Abu Tayeh after a flying start (18-2 in 6, with a run of eleven): the Jordanian was beaten: 30-11 in 23. The Turk finished in the top of the rankings with 1.500.
Chang Hoon Seo, who was the best loser on the first day, showed his class again with victories over his compatriot In-Won Kang (30-18 in 23) and the Egyptian Ebrahim Awad 30-16 in 13 innings, good for the top ranking on the second day with 1.667 over two matches.
The most appealing groups for Tuesday:
Group A: Thomas Andersen, Atsushi Kiyota, Dave Christiani
Group B: Kostas Papakonstantinou, Glenn Hofman, Seung-Jin Lee
Group C: Juan David Zapata, Jung-Ju Shin, Kostas Kokkoris
Group G: Birol Uymaz, Tolgahan Kiraz, Sung Il Jeong
Group H: Gökhan Salman, Mohamed Abdin, Dustin Jäschke
Group J: Ronny Lindemann, Murat Tüzül, Carlos Anguita
Group O: Hyung Bum Hwang, Ahmet Alp, Omer Karakurt
Group P: Jean Paul de Bruijn, Therese Klompenhouwer, Chang Hoon Seo.
The ranking on the second day:
1 Chang Hoon Seo 4-1.667-7
2 Omer Karakurt 4-1.500-11
3 William Oh 4-1.500-10
4 Yusuke Mori 4-1,304-11
5 Bernard Baudoin 4-1.250-6
6 Umit Demircan 4-1.132-6
7 Carlos Anguita 4-1.132-4
8 Murat Celik 4-1.111-9
9 Mohamed Abdin 4-1.111-6
10 Sung-Il Jeong 4-1.091-7
11 Manol Minaoglu 4-1.071-6
12 Radek Novak 4-0.952-5
13 In-Seok Kang 4-0,779-5
14 Juan David Zapata 3-1.395-5
15 Glenn Hofman 3-1.363-6
16 Atsushi Kiyota 2-1.023-8
Best runner-up:
1 Dave Christiani 3-1.250-5.
Omer Karakurt, the number two on the day ranking
William Oh, great finish to beat Belgian Andy de Bondt
Bernard Baudoin was the better of Barry van Beers
Yusuke Mori, one of the best on the second day with high runs
Dutchman Dave Christiani, lucky loser