PORTO - The world class match was not his first shining performance in a World Cup and certainly not his last. Eddy Leppens is the uncrowned champion of the qualifications, the master of the run-up, who often reaches the World Cups main tournaments with wonderful matches and high averages. But then..., when he's facing the big guns, when the pressure is on, the Belgian star player fades away. What the reason is for that sudden blowback? ,,I don't like to talk about it'', said Leppens on Thursday night, on the eve of the real World Cup start in Porto.
Just look at his last three World Cups: very strong in the final qualification, but stopped by the star players after a tough draw in the first (or second) round of the main event: by Tasdemir in Luxor (40-3), after a win against Caudron, by Tasdemir in Ho Chi Minh and by Blomdahl in Bursa. It seems to be Leppens' destiny this year and of course he doesn't want to be reminded to it at the start of a new challenge.
The display of power against Vietnam's Xuan Cuong Ma, a well known Azian, was once again a match on the best level. Leppens started with seven in three innings, then attacked by 14 and scored an 11 three innings later for 40-11 in seven innings (5.714). The best in this World Cup so far. And in his second, Leppens also dealt with a strong Korean, Hyung Bum Hwang: 40-30 in 26 innings.
Eddy Leppens' 40-in-7 match (3, 0, 4, 14, 5, 3, 11) was the tenth in history according to the statistician Bert van Manen. The previous matches were recorded by Frédéric Caudron (Bursa, 2017), Eddy Merckx (Eeklo, 2017), Dani Sánchez (Barcelona, 2016), Marco Zanetti (Witten, 2016), Dick Jaspers (Rosmalen, 2016), Murat Naci Coklu (Antalya, 2014), Eddy Merckx (Antalya, 2013), Jae-Guen Kim (Seoul, 2013) and Dong-Koong Kang (Antwerp, 2013).
His comment after the match was short. Leppens told he just felt good, felt the table, played with lots of confidence and could make two high runs. But finally, the focus was back on the next round, tomorrow (Friday) in the main tournament. The Belgian wants to shine like he did today and play a main role in a World Cup.
Sung-Won Choi, who seems to be in his best-years form again, was the day's leader with 4 match points, 2.666 and 14 as his high run. Second on top was Eddy Leppens. Two Vietnamese (Dinh Nai Ngo and Minh Cam Ma) and Korean Jae Guen Kim completed the top five.
The top twelve consisted of five Koreans, three Vietnamese, two Turks, one Belgian and one Spaniard. Martin Horn, Javier Palazón and Wan Young Choi were the three best runners up to go to the main tournament.
The overview of the twelve groups on in the final qualification day to the main tournament:
Group A:
The role of Rui Costa, the home crowd hero, has been played out, in a group where all matches ended in a draw. Ji Hun Ahn finished with a slightly better average than Quyet Chien Tran: 1.379 against 1.355.
Group B:
Spaniard Carlos Crespo first defeated Hideaki Kobayashi (40-33) and in his last match also the top favourite in this group, Tayfun Tasdemir, 40-35 in 31 innings.
Group C:
Sung-Won Choi survived a match point against Martin Horn in the deciding match. The German also didn't manage to draw in the equalizer when he missed by a kiss. The Korean group winner, among other things, showed up with a 15-innings match and ended with an excellent 2.666.
Group D:
Minh Cam Ma made an end to Ronny Lindemann's strong tournament with a fairly comfortable win: 40-28 in 19 and 2.000 over two matches. The German could be satisfied with with 1.360 and a run of 13 against Ma.
Group E:
The group with three Koreans was won by Dong-Koong Kang. Jung-Ju Shin, one of the huge talents in his country, started with a victory over Choong-Bok Lee (40-28 in 31), then Lee and Kang drew in 27 innings. Kang was a way too strong for the youngster Shin: 40-14 in 19.
Group F:
What a great show of Eddy Leppens in his first appearance, beating Xuan Cuong Ma, 40-11 in 7 innings and 14 and 11 runs. The Belgian needed more power to defeat Hyung Bum Hwang, but took an easy win 40-30 in 26 innings. Leppens final result: 4 points, 2.424, run 14.
Group G:
The Turkish threesome in this group shared the points. The winner on average was Adnan Yüksel. Semih Sayginer lost his first match to Ahmet Alp 40-17 in 26, then beat Yüksel 40-38 in 27, but Yüksel, who bested Alp, closed on top in average.
Group H:
The tension lasted until the last points. Dinh Nai Ngo and Javier Palazón both beat Chi Yeon Cho. The mutual match was taken by the Vietnamese Ngo, 40-37 in 19, despite a 10-run from the Spaniard.
Group I:
Jae Guen Kim, the team world champion with Sung-Won Choi, finished on top followed by Birol Uymaz and Riad Nadi. The Korean won his two matches in 24 and 25 innings and finished with 1.632.
Group J:
Hyung Kon Kim had a strong final shot against Can Capak, leaving him behind after 35-34 with a final six. Antonio Montes lost his two matches, Uymaz lost his chances by a long hiccup against Kim.
Group K:
Lütfi Cenet took off against Wan Young Choi (40-37 in 30) and finished with a win over Roland Forthomme 40-29. The Belgian suffered two losses, all three players ended just over 1.400.
Groupl L:
Jérôme Barbeillon defeated Tonny Carlsen, one of the stars from the prelims. Then Anh Vu Duong lost to the Dane 40-38. The French and the Vietnamese fought a titanic struggle in their mutual match. Duong finished it off with four after being 38-36 down. His second last point (third cushion with reverse English) was a beauty.
The Korean former world champion Sung-Won Choi was the day's best in the run-up to the main draw
The top twelve on Thursday:
1 Sung-Won Choi 4-2.666-14
2 Eddy Leppens 4-2,424-14
3 Dinh Nai Ngo 4-2.105-6
4 Minh Cam Ma 4-2.000-11
5 Jae Guen Kim 4-1.632-6
6 Hyung Kon Kim 4-1.481-10
7 Lütfi Cenet 4-1.428-9
8 Carlos Crespo 4-1.290-8
9 Dong-Koong Kang 3-1.739-8
10 Adnan Yüksel 2-1.560-10
11 Ji Hu Anh 2-1.379-7
12 Anh Vu Duong 2-1.300-8.
The three runners up to join the main tournament:
1 Martin Horn 2-1.795-10
2 Javier Palazón 2-1.673-10
3 Wan Young Choi 2-1.480-8.
The draw for the main tournament:
Friday 14.00 (Portuguese time):
Dick Jaspers-Wan Young Choi
Sung-Won Choi-Adnan Yüksel
Sameh Sidhom-Minh Cam Ma
Haeng-Jik Kim-Carlos Crespo
16.00:
Eddy Leppens-Ji Hun Ahn
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Hyung Kon Kim
Jae-Ho Cho-Javier Palazón
Marco Zanetti-Lütfi Cenet
18.00:
Frédéric Caudron-Myung-Woo Cho
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen-Ihab El Messery
Jérémy Bury-Anh Vu Duong
Murat Naci Coklu-Joao Ferreira
21.00:
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Dong-Koong Kang
Jung-Han Heo-Jae-Guen Kim
Eddy Merckx-Martin Horn
Dani Sánchez-Dinh Nai Ngo.
Adnan Yüksel, winner on average in a group with three Turks