ANTALYA - The new format used in the World Cups has reduced the chances for the top players to be out of competition on the first day of the main draw. Frédéric Caudron, with the best average of 2.448, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dani Sänchez, Martin Horn and David Martinez were the five players who went to the knockout stage with sixteen with the maximum win at the World Cup in Antalya. The twelve other players could afford a misstep (loss or draw) in the three qualifying rounds, but still are in the race for the main prizes.
The group winners were Pedro Piedrabuena, Frédéric Caudron, Eddy Merckx, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Tayfun Tasdemir, Dani Sánchez, Martin Horn and David Martinez. Caudron finished over two average: 2.448 ahead of Jaspers 2.382, Tran 2.092 and Sánchez 2.033.
Dick Jaspers was the number two in Group A with one loss, Serdar Bas, who made name and fame in this Antalya tournament, was eliminated with three match points. Frédéric Caudron preceded Lütfi Cenet in Group B, in which three players even finished with two match points (two losses) and Nikos Polychronopoulos was the last. Eddy Merckx topped Group C with two victories and one draw, Sung-Won Choi was second, Birol Uymaz and Eddy Leppens were out. Torbjörn Blomdahl showed an excellent form in Group D. The Swede won his three matches, Murat Naci Coklu lost only to Blomdahl and was second with four match points to enter the final rounds. Two notable players were eliminated in this group: Semih Sayginer and HaengJik Kim.
Tayfun Tasdemir and Dinh Nai Ngo were the frontrunners in Group E, where Marco Zanetti and Minh Cam Ma missed the qualification. Dani Sánchez remained unbeaten in Group F, in which he was winner in the matches against Jae-Ho Cho (second with three points), Sameh Sidhom and Javier Palazón. Martin Horn played a flawless preround and was victorious against Quyet Chien Tran (finished second), Jung-Han Heo and Wan Young Choi. David Martinez excelled as one of the undefeated winners this day, Roland Forthomme finished as number two. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Jérémy Bury were eliminated.
Group A:
The number one in the starting field, Dick Jaspers, had the best opening with a 40-point match in 13 innings. The Dutchman had to put up a hard fight against Serdar Bas, a Turkish revelation, who forced Jaspers to attack after his 13-run in the fifth inning: a 20-10 deficit. Jaspers came stoically from the stop, caught up at 22-21 and 31-31 and had the much better finish: 40-32 in 13. Pedro Piedrabuena faced an unexpected poor Myung Woo Cho in that first session. The Korean was not in the mood and even couldn't come closer in the final part: 40-24 in 21. In the second session, the group was turned upside down. Pieadrabuena defeated Jaspers with a final rush of 9 (40-32 in 17) and Myung Woo Cho was beaten by Serdar Bas 40-32 in 24. Three players were entering the last round for two places.
In the second session, the heat was on. Pieadrubuena defeated Jaspers with a final sprint of 9 (40-32 in 17) and Myung Woo Cho was defeated by Serdar Bas 40-32 in 24. Three players were in the race for two places in the final round in the last round. Piedrabuena finished on top after a draw against Bas (40-40 in 27). Dick Jaspers secured second place with a victory over little Cho: 40-19 in 17.
The final ranking in Group A:
1 Piedrabuena 5-1.818-9
2 Jaspers 4-2.382-7
3 Bas 3-1.750-13
4 Cho 0-1.190-7
Group B:
Frédéric Caudron was facing the star of the previous day (Polychronopoulos), but was the better of his opponent from the start. The Greek was no shadow of the player he was one day ago and was never able to threaten the Belgian. The first gap at the break, 23-11 (10 innings) was built out to 40-22 in 17, when Caudron went smoothly to the finish line. Lütfi Cenet was the best of two Turks in this group and triumphed 40-21 in 19 over Can Capak. Caudron was out of sight after the second round, beating Cenet with runs of 8 and 13 (40-14 in 14). Therefore the Belgian was by far the best in average after two rounds (2.580). Can Capak (a win over Polychronopoulos 40-31 in 25) and Cenet were still in the race, Polychronopoulos was almost eliminated after two losses.
Caudron was already out of reach after the second session after beating Lütfi Cenet with runs of 8 and 13 (40-14 in 14). The Belgian was in average the best after two rounds (2.580). Can Capak (win over Polychronopoulos 40-31 in 25) and Cenet were still in the race, Polychronopoulos was almost eliminated. Lütfi Cenet shared Caudron to the knock-out in the third session, despite losing to Polychronopoulos 40-33 in 16. Because Caudron went to the maximum score, three players could finish with two match points. Of these, Cenet had the best average.
The final ranking in Group B:
1 Caudron 6- 2.448- 15
2 Cenet 2- 1.812- 8
3 Capak 2- 1.606- 8
4 Polychronopoulos 2- 1.603- 11
Group C:
The Belgian clash between Eddy Merckx and Eddy Leppens first rolled into Merckx' profit (25-14), in the next part, Leppens came back strongly and took a small lead, 28-26. Merckx' final rush decided the match: 13 and 1 for a finish to 40-29 in 16. Sung-Won Choi and Birol Uymaz had a difficult run-up. The Korean was the better in the second part and won 40-23 in 32. Merckx secured his place in the knock-out with the best sixteen taking his second win: 40-28 in 24 against Choi. Uymaz bested Leppens (40-20 in 23). Three players behind Merckx still had chances for the final round.
Merckx secured his place for the top sixteen by his second win: 40-28 in 24 against Choi. Uymaz defeated Leppens (40-20 in 23). Three players, following Merckx, went to the final round with chances to qualify. Sung-Won Choi knocked out Leppens in his last match and finished second with four match points. Uymaz and Merckx played a draw in 21 innings.
The final ranking in Group C:
1 Merckx 5- 1.935- 13
2 Choi 4- 1.367- 11
3 Uymaz 3- 1.355- 8
4 Leppens 0- 1.301- 9
Group D:
The first knock was handed out by Torbjörn Blomdahl, who had HaengJik Kim in an iron grip in the first innings: 15-1 in 4, 20-3 in 6. It seemed to turn out into a real match after Kim's 9-run (29-23), but the Swede didn't let it happen: 40-31 in 17. In the Turkish clash, Semih Sayginer was after the start the better of Murat Naci Coklu. On a 31-18 score, the game ran into a decisive part at 34-34, when Coklu attacked first with a 5 and in the next inning with his last point: 40-34 in 18. Blomdahl moved up unbeaten to the last round after beating Coklu (40-25 in 24), Sayginer retained his chances by beating Kim (40-32 in 21). Four players, of whom Blomdahl had the best chances, still competed for the two places in the last session.
Blomdahl entered undefeated the last round when he was the better of Coklu (40-25 in 24), Sayginer retained his chances by beating Kim (40-32 in 21). Four players, of whom Blomdahl was the best, still competed for the two places in the lead. Blomdahl finished as one of the players with the maximum win after beating Sayginer 40-33 in 22 in the last match round. Therefore Sayginer missed the qualification. Murat Naci Coklu finsshed second with 4 match points.
The final raning in Group D:
1 Blomdahl 6- 1.904- 10
2 Coklu 4- 1.810- 7
3 Sayginer 2- 1.754- 8
4 Kim 0- 1.888- 9
Group E:
Tayfun Tasdemir was a feared tormentor for Marco Zanetti in the first round. The start with 9-1 and 17-4, later expanded with a 10-run, was the run-up to a riant win by the Turk 40-19 in 17 innings. Two Vietnamese battled it out for the other victory in this round: Dinh Nai Ngo beat Minh Cam Ma 40-23, also in 17 innings.
The two positions on top went to Tasdemir and Ngo, both with 5 match points, after having shared the win in their mutual match in the third round: 40-40 in 29. Ma finished third with one win, Zanetti with no points was fourth.
The final ranking in Group E:
1 Tasdemir 5- 1.690- 10
2 Ngo 5- 1.518- 7
3 Ma 2- 1.620- 8
4 Zanetti 0- 1.287- 9
Group F:
The first two winners were Dani Sánchez and Jae-Ho Cho in the matches against Javier Palazón and Sameh Sidhom. The Spanish match went in Sánchez' favor all the way, although Palazón never was too far behind. Sánchez' 10-run in the 7th made the gap, the margin from then remained around five to eight points. Sánchez won 40-32 in 22. Jae-Ho Cho was a long way down in his match against Sidhom, but bended the score in his favor in the final part: 40-33 in 19.
Sánchez also won his two next matches, facing Sidhom and Cho in 16 and 21 innings. Jae-Ho Cho went on to the knockout thanks to the draw with Palazón in his last game.
The final ranking in Group F:
1 Sánchez 6-2.033-10
2 Jae-Ho Cho 3-1.770-10
3 Sidhom 2-1.716-8
4 Palazón 1-1.411-6
Group G:
Martin Horn's flying start gave him a big lead against Quyet Chien Tran: first 10-1 in 4, then 20-3 in 6. The come-back of the Vietnamese brought some tension in the match (33-27), but eventually Horn made a nice six: 40-33 in 21. Jung-Han Heo dominated the match in which he faced his countryman Wan Young Choi, coming from the qualification rounds. The margin was never big, but enough for Heo to win the match 40-30 in 25.
Horn and Tran eventually remained on top with 6 and 4 match points ahead of the two Koreans. Horn took his last against Choi 40-37 in 28, Tran secured his second place by a win over Heo 40-28 in 14 (running 15).
The final ranking in Group G:
1 Horn 6-1.690-7
2 Tran 4-2.092-15
3 Heo 2-1.524-8
4 Choi 0-1.458-9
Group H:
The final part of the match between Roland Forthomme and Jérémy Bury was one of the highlights of the day. The Belgian had a much better start and led 23-6 around the stop, thanks to a run of 9. The margin was still ten points (28-18) when Bury attacked in the 15th turn with 11 and for the first time took a lead (29-28). It was not for long, as Forthomme reacted immediately and then in the turn with 12 (40-29, 40-32 in 16 after the bury of Bury). David Martinez made a good start with a win over Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, who could not find his rhythm and feeling for a moment: 40-22 in 23.
The Spaniard eventually even finished the best of the four with three wins and 1.846. In his last match, Martinez defeated Bury, who was already out, 40-36 in 24. Forthomme took second place with four match points.
The final ranking in Group H:
1 Martinez 6-1.846-8
2 Forthomme 4-1.843-12
3 Nguyen 2-1.270-7
4 Bury 0-1.655-11.
The matches for the knockout with sixteen on Saturday (Turkish time):
9.00:
Caudron-Cenet
Tasdemir-Ngo
Horn-Forthomme
Martinez-Coklu
11.00:
Blomdahl-Choi
Merckx-Tran
Piedrabuena-Jaspers
Sánchez-Jae-Ho Cho.
The quarter finals are at 15.00 and 17.00.
Torbjörn Blomdahl, excellent winner in the last pre-rounds before the knock-out
Pedro Piedrabuena, on top of the group in which he beat Dick Jaspers
David Martinez, unbeaten winner in group with Nguyen, Bury and Forthomme
Dani Sánchez in final rounds after wins over Jae-Ho Cho, Sidhom and Palazón
Serdar Bas, the Turkish revelation, was the better of Myung-Woo Cho and played a daw against Piedrabuena
Martin Horn, one of five group winneres with the maximum score