VEGHEL - The last cheer came from Kay de Zwart, who brought the Dutch clan on the stands at the World Cup in Veghel in ecstasy in the final hours. The Orange day in the Veghel arena, on the third day, ended with six Dutch group winners, five of whom finished in top ten. Robinson Morales from Colombia, with 1,935 on average, was the best of the entire day session, followed by Korean Ji Hun Ahn, Turk Berkay Karakurt and a shining bunch of Dutchmen. The last qualification day, today (Wednesday) with twelve groups of three, starts at 10.00. It is the final run-up to the main draw at the World Cup in Veghel with 32 players.
32-year old Dutch mail carrier Kay de Zwart ended the day with a masterpiece facing two strong Turks: first a victory in the match with Ahmet Alp and at the end of a day a hard-fought victory over Serdar Bas. ''I was a long way down, 22-11 or some what, but I took my chances in the end''. And he finished with three wonderful shots for the final sprint. It was his fourth win in a row in two days of preliminary rounds.
The highlights further came from Lukas Stamm, a rather erratic German, playing an ultra short game, and from Savas Gungor, who finished with a 13 run. Korean substitute Ji Hun Ahn and Bart Ceulemans shone with runs over 10 and as always, the level was rising in averages by top three players like Morales, Ahn and Berkay Karakurt.
Colombian Robinson Morales made his come-back in a UMB arena with two impressive matches. The former PBA player first swept Mehmet Goren, a seasoned Turk, from the table with a 30-15 in 15 innings and in his last match another Turk Savas Gungor 30-20 in 16. What a pleasure to see 'Robin Hood', as he is nicknamed in his home land, back in this field with his masterful baggage of shots. Where should it lead to: how will this tough South American, who resides in Spain some days of the year, be able to compete with the UMB world top in these coming days?
There was, on this third World Cup day, no guarantee for the best players to continue in the tournament. Because not all the day's best players were rewarded optimally. Lukas Stamm (30 points in nine, 3,333 on average) was passed in the end by the Greek Kostas Kokkoris. Bart Ceulemans, inexperienced, but in these days a promising World Cup player, was finally beaten by Raimond Burgman, an international veteran.
Of the players who are out of the game, Jef Philipoom was on of the most unfortunate: the Belgian lost on one carom to Cengiz Karaca. Omer Karakurt, who lost to Philipoom in the first stages, went to the next round as sixteenth and last player. Joey de Kok started with a victory on the later outstanding Lukas Stam, but both were eliminated by Kostas Kokkoris.
Peter De Backer was the only Belgian to go on this day with victories over Marcel Dirn and Fatih Korkmaz. Jeffrey Jorissen, who eliminated Raymon Groot and David Pennör, had a phenomenal start against the Swede with 25 in 8, but only finished after 19 innings. Dutch Ludo Kools could not impress and lost his two matches against Berkay Karakurt and Dong Hoon Kim.
The final ranking on the third day:
1 Robinson Morales 4-1,935-7
2 Ji Hun Ahn 4-1.578-12
3 Berkay Karakurt 4-1.578-7
4 Raimond Burgman 4-1.538-8
5 Jean van Erp 4-1.463-6
6 Huub Wilkowski 4-1.333-6
7 Jeffrey Jorissen 4-1.276-9
8 Peter De Backer 4-1,276-8
9 Kay de Zwart 4-1,276-5
10 Thomas Andersen 4-1,176-7
11 Faraco Jaime Sanchez 4-1,111-5
12 Sung Il Jeong 4-0,882-7
13 Ja-In Kang 3-1,818-8
14 Dave Christiani 3-1,666-9
15 Kostas Kokkoris 2-1,500-7
16 Omer Karakurt 2-1,357-7
The first reserve to come in is Jose Maria Mas, who is replacing the sick (COVID) Peter Ceulemans.
Robinson Morales (Robin Hood for his friends) was the day's best player
Raimond Burgman, the best of a bunch of Dutch players
Ja-In Kan's focus during the last matches
For today, Wednesday, starting at 10.00, the most appealing groups are:
Jung Han Heo, Ja In Kang, Sung Il Jeong (three Koreans)
Dave Christiani with Dion Nelin
Roland Forthomme with Thomas Andersen and Kostas Kokkoris
Nikos Polychronopoulos with Kay de Zwart and Omer Karakurt
Jun Tae Kim with Peter De Backer
Antonio Montes with Barry van Beers and Jeffrey Jorissen
Can Capak with Gökhan Salman and Huub Wilkowski
Wan Young Choi with Jean van Erp
Jose Maria Mas with Raimond Burgman and Arnim Kahofer
Berkay Karakurt with Michael Nilsson
Jose Juan Garcia with Rui Costa and Ji Hun Ahn
Robinson Morales with Jakob Sörensen and Dustin Jäschke.
Raymon Groot must go back to New York with a win and a loss: 'I tried to give my best, anyway, happy to be in my home land again.'
Lukas Stamm, a termendous game, but out of the World Cup
Huub Wilkowski, among the best Dutch players
Jef Philipoom, out on one carom
Jean van Erp, now waiting for his fan club
Jose Maria Mas, the first to come in as the best runner-up
Peter De Backer, a flawless performance in his first matches
Jeffrey Jorissen, what a start with 25 in 8
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Dave Christiani, one Holland's best in the last qualification team
Joey de Kok, the young Dutch player: third day was a bridge too far