KIELCE/POLAND - The European B team with eight billiard players is leading the rankings in the WCBS championship that moves up to the climax this weekend in Kielce, Poland. The tournament is featuring 48 billiard players (24 men, 24 ladies) in four disciplines: three-cushion, snooker, pool and heyball. Six continents have been invited with four men and four women each, all six meeting in the regular competition. Tonight, Saturday, the top four teams qualify for the semi-finals. The Europe B team with Ruben Legazpi (Spain) and Karina Jetten (Netherlands) in three-cushion leads after two days of competition and has two more matches to play against the Asia A and Asia B teams. The numbers one to four on the penultimate day of play are Europe B, Asia B, Europe A and America. Torbjörn Blomdahl (Europe A) is one of the stars at the event so far with three wins and a draw against Sameh Sidhom from the Rest of the World team. Players in the four disciplines receive three points for their team for a win, two for a draw and one point for a loss. Blomdahl's wins are against Legazpi (40-39), world champion Phuong Vinh Bao (40-24) and Japanese Umeda (40-19).
Torbjörn Blomdahl leads Europe B with 11 out of 4 ahead of Sameh Sidhom (8 from 3, also unbeaten) and Phuong Vinh Bao with 7 from 3. Among the women, Claudia Marcela Lalinde (America, Colombia) is the most successful with 10 points out of 4 ahead of Kien Tuong Phung (Asia B, Vietnam) with 9 out of 3. For Europe, Karina Jetten has 5 out of 3 and Jaimie Buelens 4 out of 4 after four losses. The match between Karina Jetten and Jaimie Buelens ended in 25-21 for the Dutch player. Europe B won 19-13 over Europe A in the four disciplines. Among the women in three-cushion, Claudia Marcela Lalinde leads the rankings with 10 out of 4. Güzin Mujde Karakasli (Rest of the World) is number three with 7 out of 3.
Most successful in the other disciplines over two days were:
Snooker men: Michael Georgiou (Europe B, Cyprus) with 9 out of 3 ahead of Brendan O'Donoghue (Europe A, Ireland) and Victo Sarkis (America, Brazil) with 8 out of 4.
Women's snooker: Ng On Yee (Asia A, Hong Kong) 9 out of 4 ahead of Wendy Jans (Europe B, Belgium) with 8 out of 3.
Pool men:
Bader Alawadhi, (Asia B, Kuwait) with 9 out of 3 ahead of Daniel Maciol (Europe B, Poland) and Denis Grabe (Europe A, Estonia), Gerson Martinez (America, Peru) with 8 points.
Pool women:
Sara Rocha (Europe A, Portugal) and Soledad Ayala (America, Argentina) with 8 out of 4.
Heyball men:
Maximiliano Ossandon (America, Chile) with 9 out of 4 ahead of Mohd Reza Hassan (Asia B, Malaysia) and Oliver Szoinoki (Europe B, Hungary) with 7 out of 3.
Heyball ladies:
Tianqi Shi (Asia A, China) and Ana Gradisnik (Europe B, Slovenia) with 9 out of 3.
Today, Saturday, starting 10am, Asia A-Rest of the World, Asia B-Europe, America-Europe A, Asia A-Europe B, Asia B-Rest of the World will still play. Sunday is the first semi-final at 10am, then at 12pm. The match for third and fourth place is at 3pm, the final at 5pm.
The total prize amount is $140,000.
Standings with 1 day of regular competition to go
- Europa B 24-58
- Azië B 24-56
- Amerika 32-55
- Europa A 32-55
- Azië A 24-51
- Rest ofthe World 24-45
The individual standings in three-tie:
Men:
- Torbjörn Blomdahl (Europe A) 4-11
- Sameh Sidhom (RoftheW) 3-8
- Phuong Vinh Bao (Asia A) 3-7
- Ruben Legazpi (Europe A) 3-5
- Ryujji Umeda (Asia B) 3-5
- Javier Vera (Americas) 4-4
Ladies:
- Claudia Marcela Lalinde (America) 4-10
- Kien Tuong Phung (Asia B) 3-9
- Güzin Mujde Karakasli (RoftheW) 3-7
- Karina Jetten (Europe B) 3-5
- Yuko Nishimoto (Asia A) 3-5
- Jaimie Buelens (Europe A) 4-4.
Sameh Sidhom from the Rest of the world, unbeaten so far
The world champion Phuong Vinh Bao for Asia A
Güzin Mujde Karakasli playing rfor the Rest ofr the world team