3-Cushion
LIMA - The Circulo Militar de Jesus Maria in Lima will wake up this morning with the pretty good feeling that now only top players will appear to the billiards for a knock out-system in the main tournament. That doesn't mean that we don't have a great respect for the 32 players who leave the building after been eliminated in the preliminary rounds. In a world championship there are always surprises and disappointments. The high ranking of the Dutchman Jean Paul de Bruijn was a pleasant surprise: he finally showed in his first matches his skills after a few years of silence, but of course it does not guarantee a good continuation of this tournament.
The new period in billiard, with a lot of matches broadcasted by Kozoom on internet and the respond on facebook, sets up a lot of discussions during a tournament like this. We received, for instance, a very nice mail from the American billiard fan John Bowers, who told us that Michael Kang, owner of the Carom Cafe in New York, deserves a little more credit than we gave him in the article after his match against Frédéric Caudron. He wrote a very friendly message and said: ,,Michael felt like a kid in a candy store and he was thrilled to be invited as a substitute. And not any player who respects himself, will step to the billiard with the intention that he can't win the match.''
He is right: the Andrades, the El Messery's, the Noya's, the Sacco and the Campinon gave the preliminary rounds of the tournament the color that a World championship and players like them deserve. They now make, with a deep bow of admiration, a step aside for champions like Blomdahl, Caudron, Jaspers, Merckx, Sánchez, Zanetti and Choi.
Do they still talk about Filipos Kasidokostas, Jef Philipoom or Nikos Polychronopoulos in Lima? They will do certainly in the corridors, because it's a remarkable situation and as always in these tournaments, the future of three-cushion is one of the main topics of conversation.
It is a concern that many people share in these times of crisis in many areas. Dani Sánchez and Semih Sayginer (as a spectator and guest present in Lima) are players who speak openly about it. Many players from the top of the circuit (Kasidokostas, Palazón, Legazpi, Cenet) are searching in vain for sponsors abroad, because they want to play in the best leagues in the world.
Unfortunately it is not a period in which sponsors can promise mountains of gold to put in billiard. In the Netherlands, this week, disappeared another team after Van Donge en De Roo and Crystal Kelly. Twentevisie, a team with a long tradition in the league, will not return in the competition. The team of Christian Rudolph and Jens Eggers, that had found shelter in the football stadium of FC Twente, has been stopped with immediate effect, even the players didn't expect and had to read it on facebook.
The Spanish team of Caseta Nova suddenly stopped after his performance in the European Cup and in the French league the team of Courbevoie has retired, so that there will be a competition with seven instead of eight teams.
The Circulo Militar de Jesus Maria wakes up with others than these gloomy thoughts this morning. The world is watching anxiously to whom will be crowned on Saturday as the new world champion. For two delightful days, as we hope, the true billiard fans can enjoy one of the best spectator sports in the world. The sad thing is that it's not always appreciated with a huge audience and high ratings.