BORDEAUX - Roland Forthomme's feel had deserted him, but his memory was still fine. The Belgian one-man army played his first match on the WC in Bordeaux against Riad Nady, and had to make a monumental comeback to beat the Egyptian. His own modest analysis: ,,I did not win because I played well, but because my opponent could not finish the job.'' And, with a smile, looking back at earlier this year: ,,Dick Jaspers played Nady in the World Cup in Luxor, and was also a mile back. He froze then as he did now, and Jaspers won. The good news for me is, that Dick went on to win the tournament, and play five average in the final. All I am saying is: it's all in the open now, anything can happen. But I will have to play quite a bit better...''
Forthomme will have to get into a Jaspers flow to do it. Dick Jaspers did remember the match: ,,I was 36-23 behind, but then I left him with very few chances.'' Roland Forthomme did get chances: the Egyptian champion missed golden opportunities until the Belgian ended his suffering in the 44th inning. On the second day of this WC, Forthomme's comeback (from 20-10 and 36-24 to a 40-36 win) was not the only remarkable result. The level of play, with the cloths still extremely slippery, was not much higher than on day one.
Dani Sánchez was the best player with 18 innings, the same as Leppens on Tuesday. Jung Han Heo, one of the strongest Koreans, never had a chance against Michael Nilsson, which brings the Swede back into the race. Sung-Won Choi recovered from his loss on day one, but has to sit and watch what Jae Guen Kim does tomorrow. Semih Sayginer's fate was sealed by Eddy Merckx. Dong Koong Kang, winner of the lucrative LG Cup last month, started with a win over Christopher Tevez, and Pedro Piedrabuena got himself out of trouble when he played Quyet Chien Tran. The American sphynx was 38-32 behind, but impressively ran an eight to win. Several of the top players were on a comparable level in their first match of the WC: Frédéric Caudron won in 20 innings, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti and Sung Won Choi in 21 innings, Dick Jaspers in 22 and Eddy Merckx in 24. Jae Ho Cho (in 24) had a slower start, Hyung Bum Hwang needed 35 innings to win.
The flights after two days of play:
Flight A: Sung-Won Choi had a walkover against Tatsuo Arai (40-15 in 21) but has to wait what Jae Guen Kim does against the Japanese. Kim (two points, 1.333) only needs a draw to stay ahead of Choi (two points, 1.470).
Flight B: Torbjörn Blomdahl put Jean Reverchon on two losses, the Swede will now decide who advances when he plays Ihab El Messery. Jean Reverchon was one of the players who could not get any feel of the tables.
Flight C: Eddy Merckx and Luis Aveiga lead, having both beaten Sayginer. The Belgian has the better average (1.666 v.1.250). Sayginer ends third in the flight, with1.250.
Flight D: Dick Jaspers still has to make good on his seeding against Ryuuji Umeda, another former world champion, who in his first match drew with Hyung Kon Kim. Jaspers beat the Korean 40-29 in 22.
Flight E: Tayfun Tasdemir is on schedule after his expected win over Cetin Behzat (40-21 in 21). He will play a decider tomorrow, against Arnim Kahofer.
Flight F: Spanish champion Dani Sánchez against German title holder Christian Rudolph (2.222 for Sánchez, 1.212 for Rudolph) could turn out to be a nice confrontation. Jan Áles from the Czeck Republic made nine points against Sanchez, and averaged 0.509.
Flight G: Marco Zanetti had extended warm-up play against Jean van Erp, who lost twice in disappointing fashion. Vietnamese Xuon Cuong Ma could present Zanetti with some problems.
Flight H: Two cultures clash for the group win: two-time world champion Frédéric Caudron and Pan-American champion Huberney Catano. Caudron (2.000 average v. 1.170 for Catano) only needs a draw. 52-year old Cypriot Christakis Christoforou, from a country with only 20 registered billiard players, was a likeable but not a dangerous opponent.
Flight I: Jae Ho Cho did not produce a high average in his match against Andrès Lizarazo, but he is still a candidate for the title. To advance, he needs to get past the unpredictable Nikos Polychronopoulos. The Greek said after his opening win: ,,I can beat them all, but I can also lose to anybody.'' With that perspective, he is a danger to Cho.
Flight J: Rubén Legazpi and Hyung Bum Hwang battle for the group win, having both beaten Juan Pablo Sisterna. The Spaniard used up 29 innings, the Korean, who is higher on the ranking, used 35.
Flight K: With one match to go, all three players are in with a chance: Anh Vu Duong leads with two points and 1.666, Michael Nilsson is second with two points and 1.530, Jung Han Heo is third with just a loss and 1.000. Duong will play Heo tomorrow, and he has his fate in his own hands.
Flight L: Miguel Torres watched from the stands as the match between Roland Forthomme and Riad Nady got twisted by the Egyptians inability to finish. The American (two points, 1.538) needs at least a draw against the Belgian tomorrow (Forthomme is on two points and 0.909).
Flight M: Sameh Sidhom made it through the first round, allbeit with a 50+ inning match. Cayo Bardales kept up with him all through the marathon, then lost it in the home stretch. Eddy Leppens looks the big favorite in this group, but Sidhom can't be taken for granted.
Flight N: Dion Nelin, sore throat from a cold against recovered from his loss against Yüksel on day one. The Dane beat Jean Paul de Bruijn 40-21 in 21 innings. Adnan Yüksel remains the one with the best chances, but he can't afford to lose with a poor average against de Bruijn. The Dutchman missed the break, never found any rhythm and had a high run of three.
Flight O: Dong Koong Kang lived up to his seeded status when he beat Christopher Tevez 40-22 in 28. The decider will be played on the final qualifying day, when Kang plays Bury.
Flight P: Pedro Piedrabuena produced the last fireworks of the evening when he beat Quyet Chien Tran (thanks to a closing run of eight, 40-38 in 23). The chances are open in this flight. Erick Tellez and Tran will meet on Thursday, with Piedrabuena (who has the highest average) as an interested spectator.