3-Cushion
HO CHI MINH CITY - The smart, older maestro put the rising star in his place: the waiting room. Marco Zanetti (55) was aglow after he had denied Myung Woo Cho (18) a place in the semifinals, with a fierce dash to the finish line. The Belgian fighting machine Eddy Merckx, is well on his way to restore his fragile position on the world ranking. All the Vietnamese players were eliminated from the tournament, in front of their own Ho Chi Minh crowd. They joined the other top favorites from South Korea, who were also denied.
Finally, after a day of captivating battles on the cloth, another European group of four will provide the climax on the final day of this third World Cup of the season. Marco Zanetti will face Eddy Merckx (11.00 Vietnamese time), Torbjörn Blomdahl will play Murat Naci Coklu (13.00). The arena in Ho Chi Minh City will welcome the current European champion, a Swedish legend of the game, a Belgian who is tough as nails, and a Turkish stylist with more potential than maybe he realizes himself.
In the early hours of Saturday, the third of the top-3 players (Frédéric Caudron) was eliminated. The Belgian champion made 39 of the required 40 caroms, one fewer than triumphant Jae Ho Cho. His loss meant that the order on the world ranking remains: 1 Dick Jaspers, 2 Dani Sánchez, 3 Frédéric Caudron. Marco Zanetti is the only one who still has a chance to challenge Caudron.
Torbjörn Blomdahl, close to his best form again, first dealt with Jae Guen Kim (40-35 in 27), then with Nikos Polychronopoulos, after a lightning start of the match, with both players running eight in their first inning. Blomdahl built up a comfortable 29-11 lead, and never got off track: 40-28 in 15 innings. Marco Zanetti, shortly before the end of the match, exceeded the 40-second limit and had to concede the break shot to Cho (35-32), but he showd nerves of steel in the home stretch. Is he on his way to another peak performance, after his win in the EC?
Eddy Merckx, who already recorded the best match (11 innings), swiftly disposed of Chi Yeon Cho in the quarterfinal (40-33 in 15) and Murat Naci Coklu dealt a lethal blow to the last Korean Jae Ho Cho with a run of 11, to win 40-31 (16).
Torbjörn Blomdahl, back in business, in the last 4 in Ho Chi Minh
Nikos Polychronopoulo says farewell to the great audience
Murat Naci Coklu outplayed the last Korean
Eddy Merckx on his way back to the world's top ten?
The crowd watching the last matches with Jae Guen Kim, Can Capak, Murat Naci Coklu and Frédéric Caudron
Earlier highlights of the Saturday:
Murat Naci Coklu-Can Capak 40-40 (shootout 2-1): The Turkish battle was not won in regular time, and another shootout was necessary. Murat Naci Coklu had run a ten in the match and was in the lead (35-15), but his up and coming countryman Capak fought like a lion. Coklu reached the finish at 40-34, and Capak needed a few miraculous points to equalize.terug. Coklu made only two from the spots, but Capak missed his very makeable second point: 2-1 to Coklu.
Jae-Ho Cho-Frédéric Caudron 40-39: The Belgian effort failed close to home. The match was neck and neck for a long time, with Cho the first to attack with a run of eight: (21-11 after 9), Caudron countered well, but he was still behind. When Cho had reached 40, Caudron still needed seven points. His equalizing inning was almost perfect, he made six and the shootout was near. In deadly silence, his seventh missed..
Eddy Merckx-Nguyen Quoc Nguyen: 40-39 (30). Nobody would have bet five cents or a Vietnamese dong on the chances of Eddy Merckx, when he played the highest ranked of the Vietnamese cueists. The score board said the home player had a 35-25 lead. The Belgian, in danger on the world ranking list, could not find his groove. No runs, no confidence. He found something deep inside, and it was just in time. A run of 14 brought Merckx on 39. He missed once more when it was 39-38, then made his last and mentally prepared for a shootout. A nervous Nguyen collapsed under the pressure, making the break but failing on the second point: 40-39 to Merckx.
Myung-Woo Cho-Dong Koong Kang: 40-25 (14). What a joy to behold, is the play of the 18-year old junior world champion, future star Myung-Woo Cho. He already made several high runs in this tournament, and kept making them against his seasoned countryman Kang. A fifteen in the second inning gave little Cho a quick lead (23-11, 34-11). He had no trouble finishing it off from there: a win in 14 innings. The young prodigy, always smiling and upbeat, is already one of the world class players in the circuit.