TRABZON - The famous sports hero, after whom Eddy Merckx is named, got the nickname 'The Cannibal' at the peak of his career. He was known for his indestructible character and dreaded endrush in hard drive finals. The cyclist and the billiard with the same name are incomparable greatnesses. The cyclist was five times winner of the Tour de France, five times of the Tour of Italy, was three times world champion and won almost all the classics. The winner of the World Cup today in Trabzon of course doesn't have such a huge list of honnor and practices a sport which is not so immensely popular as cycling.
But Eddy Merckx, for sure, is on his way to climb the world top in three cushion. He is a player who can hit very hard too in finals, as he demonstrated this afternoon in Trabzon. There, in the fullhouse of the Novotel, he defeated Kim Kyoung-Roul 3-0 in sets. Even the Korean robot, who rarely shows his emotion, must have been hugely impressed by the performance of the timidity, ordinary Flemish boy.
The development of his game will grow exponentially in the coming years. It is only recently that Merckx has left his billiards cafe in Schelle and that he and his family worked on a new house near his childhood home. Since last week he has a brand new white match table with black sheets, a pearl in his new room.
Very often the two finalists of today didn't face each other in recent years. The World Cup in Sluiskil in 2009 was at least one that was dominated by Kim. He won 3-0, 2.500 average against 1.125 for Merckx.
This afternoon it was upside down. The Belgian had, under the eyes of colleagues such as Jaspers, Caudron, Leppens, Philipoom and Blomdahl, never a dull moment in the match. After his first winning set of 15-7 in two innings (run of seven and eight) and 15-6 in six innings, Merckx had an average of 3.750 on the scoreboard.
There was just a little trouble in the third, when the Korean took 7-1 lead. Merckx hit back hard, brought the score at 8-8, made three great caroms to 11 and finished two innings later with a small run of three.
What a difference in average on the score board: Merckx played 3.000, Kim only 1.571 in the final.
The Belgians showed his joy for a while, was asked for a picture by the referee and received congratulations from Caudron, Forthomme, Leppens in the arena. ,,At least I got my revenge against Kim'', he said after an unfortunate version of the Belgian national anthem had sounded. ,,He had beaten me twice by a big score and a high average, I remembered. Today it was my day.''
Small party tonight with the Belgians, Eddy? ,,Yes, but just a little'', he smiled, ,,because tomorrow we leave early. I play a match for the league in the evening in Belgium.''
Eddy Merckx is a great champion, still not a cannibal, but undoubtedly he will play more records and gather more important titles in the recent future of his career.