PORTO - Top favorite Gaziantepspor has started the preliminary round of the Europa Cup in Porto with a 6-2 victory over CetSi Morangis. FC Porto has a win and a loss, and is still in with a chance to make the semifinals. Andernos won its first match by a single carom, beating Escuela Madrid. French champion Morangis is as good as out of the race.
The Danes of BK Gröndal, who beat Porto 5-3, are still candidates for the podium, but they will face Gaziantepaspor and CetSi on Saturday. With two losses, allbeit in the strongest of the two flights of four, CetSi Morangis disappointed on the opening day. Belgians Eddy Merckx and Eddy Leppens both won once, the third and fourth players of the Parisian top team, Richard Bitalis and Jean Reverchon, have not won so far. The team needs a small miracle and favorable results in the other matches to advance.
Dani Sánchez and Frédéric Caudron played the best matches on day one, with a 40 in 14 (Sanchez v. Leppens) and 40 in 15 (Caudron v. Merckx). The Belgian world number 1 and his team Gaziantepspor have only played one match today, winning it 6-2 against CetSi. FC Porto had a poor start, losing 5-3 to BK Grøndal, but they recovered with a 6-2 win over CetSi in the evening.
The Belgian clash between Caudron and Merckx was a quality encounter. Caudron won it thanks to a run of 10 and a closing run of 9, Merckx having produced an 11 earlier. It ended 40-36 in 15: averages 2.667/2.400. Tayfun Tasdemir was defeated by Eddy Leppens (40-28 in 24), but thankfully for Turkey, the players on board 3 and 4 (Murat Naci Coklu and Can Capak) overcame their opponents (Richard Bitalis and Jean Reverchon) 40-30 in 22 and 40-33 in 35 respectively.
FC Porto had a shaky start against BK Grøndal, in spite of Torbjörn Blomdahl's win over Dion Nelin. The Swede took it 40-25 in 21, with a strong finish. Dani Sánchez had a big lead over Tonny Carlsen, but the Dane mounted a great comeback and took the match 40-34 in 31. Brian Knudsen beat Joao Ferreira 40-30 in 35, which meant the decision fell in the match between Rui Costa and Lars Dunch. A fascinating struggle ended in a draw (40-40 in 30), and that was good enough for the Danes: 5-3.
FC Porto now needed a win against CetSi, in order to stay in the race to the semi's. The French team had its only winner in Eddy Merckx (40-31 in 18) against Blomdahl. Dani Sánchez shook off his defeat in the first match, took an early lead against Eddy Leppens, and even a run of 13 could not bring the Belgian back into it: 40-31 in 14. FC Porto sealed the win on three and four, thanks to Joao Ferreira (40-25 v. Bitalis in 22) and Rui Costa, who walked all over Reverchon.
In the other flight, Andernos and Dallinga were the first winners. The French team went through the eye of the needle against Escuela Madrid. Ruben Legazpi and Roland Forthomme played a draw (40-40 in 18), Filippos Kasidokostas (win over Javier Palazón, 40-37 in 28) and David Martinez (win over Jérôme Barbeillon, 40-30 in 39) kept the interim score in balance: 3-3. Francis Connesson secured the 5-3 win for Andernos, when he beat Valentin Andaluz by a single carom (40-39 in 47).
Dallinga did not have an impressive start, but it did win with the maximum 8-0 against the Portugese players of FC Leca. Steven van Acker was the best winner for the Dutch squad, when he used 31 innings. Jean Paul de Bruijn had one more inning, and Patrick Vasseur stayed just below 1 average. Bart Ceulemans won a war of attrition against Aranha, in 59 innings. Current standings: Group A: 1 Gaziantepsport 1-2 (6-2) 2 BK Grøndal 1-2 (5-3) 3 FC Porto 2-2 (9-7) 3 CetSi Morangis 2-0 (4-12) Group B: 1 Dallinga 1-2 (8-0) 2 Andernos 1-2 (5-3) 3 Escuela Madrid 1-0 (3-5) 4 FC Leca 1-0 (0-8).
The Dallinga team started with an 8-0 victory
The French champion CetSi Morangis needs a little miracle after two losses on the opening day
The Spanish team Escuela Madrid presents in the FC Porto stadium