Eddy Leppens starts off like the best Kim

SUWON - From the stands at the World Cup in Suwon, Eddy Leppens seemed to say to his home friends yesterday: ,,Regards from Korea, everything's going well.'' Today, in preparation for the entrance of the great matadors of three-cushion, the Belgian had a flying start in his first match: he started off like the best Korean in the early hours.

But by far the best match so far was the duel between Ruben Legazpi and Haeng Jik Kim, won by Spaniard 15-10 (6) and 15-7 (3). Averages: 3.333/2.125.

Eddy Leppens defeated Jin Pyo Hong in two quick sets: 15-9 in eight innings, 15-3 in five (2.307 average). His opponent had started his group matches with a set won against Michael Nilsson, following by two winning sets of his Swedish opponent, who averaged 1.720.

Even better than Leppens did Hyun Suk Kim, one of the two players with a fifteen run on the day before. The Korean defeated Can Capak from Turkey in straight sets: 15-3 and 15-3 (2.727). He sparkled with a run of eleven.

The day leading to the draw for the main tournament, promises a lot of beautiful matches.

For example, Jean Paul de Bruijn and Murat Naci Coklu, who both won in Group A against Seung Jin Lee, will compete for the win in that group. Vietnamese Anh Vu Duong and Turk Lutfi Cenet will do the same in Group B after their wins against Nalle Olsson.

Robinson Morales and Ngo Dinh Nai battled in a great duel in Group C: Ngo won the first set 15-3, the Colombian slipped to 15-10 and 15-14 winnen the match (1.720/1.625). Ngo is not entirely hopeless: he defeated in his next matchty Choong Bok Lee 15-04 and 15-14.

Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, the ranking leader of yesterday, had a good start with 15-11 and 15-13 against Durk Hee Hwang and will later today meet Savas Bulut, but Bulut lost his first match against Hwang and needs a small miracle to survive.

Haeng Jik Kim lost his first match against Hyung Bum Hwang (2-1) and thereafter his second against Ruben Legazpi in a high quality fight. Hagiwara Takamasa just had little opposition from Khaled Salem (15-5, 15-7) and one of the most exciting matches was the fight between Luis Aveiga and Hideaki Kobayshi: the Japanese won the first set 15-6, Aveiga crawled back with 15-14 and after a missed matchbal Kobayashi, then took the decisive 15-9.