EL GOUNA/HURGHADA - The four Koreans in the Junior World championship three cushion are leading the four groups after one day of preliminaries. The tournament in El Gouna, near to Hurghada, is spread over three days, eight players will reach the knock-outs to designate Kim Tae-Kwan's successor. Three out of four Koreans are already virtually assured of the final laps. Myung-Woo Cho, the top favourite, is the best player on the first day with four match points and 1.470.
The Egyptian Ayman Mahmoud almost caused a sensation by beating the reigning world champion Tae-Kwan Kim, but stumbled on one carom with 25-24. The reigning champion escaped, after he played a draw in his first match against Carlos Anguita.
Jiseung Han, Jung-Ju Shin and Myung-Woo Cho remained unbeaten in two rounds. The battle for the second place in all groups is still open.
The group's summary:
Group A:
The opening match between Tae Kwan Kim and Carlos Anguita is very interesting. The Korean world champion is 20-15 down when he finds his rhythm and attacks with a run of nine, which brings him one carom from the finish line. He then misses out three times. The Spaniard can draw at 25-24 in the 26th inning from the spots.
Carlos: ,,We played a wonderful match. The table was so difficult, so long at the start. When I came into the match with a good feeling, I could dominate until my opponent made nine. I had a great position to finish, but the ball made a butage. And luckily I could equalize with one.''
The Spaniard is not a shadow of himself when he plays Ossama Youssef in his second appearance. The 8-0 down in 11 innings is fatal in the later part. Ossama continues to perform well and takes victory with 25-10 in 24. He is also a serious contender for the quarterfinals.
Mahmoud Ayman surprises with a strong match in the first round against Ossama. The two Egyptian talents put up a great fight, in which Ayman is the winner with the best match of that round: 25-20 in twenty innings (1.250 average).
The winner Mahmoud responds: ,,We both played a very good match, but I was slightly better at the end. Yes, I've made a lot of progress this year. And I hope we both can qualify in this group.''
That chance reduced to almost zero due to Ayman's loss against Tae-Kwan Kim after an exciting battle in the last innings.
The ranking:
1 Tae-Kwan Kim 3-0.735-9
2 Youssef Ossama 2-1.022-7
3 Mahmoud Ayman 2-0.790-5
4 Carlos Anguita 1-0.700-5
Group B:
The Spanish champion Andres Carrion and the Frenchman Thibaut Espada show up with a tension-match to start. The match is marked by a slow start and ends with the win for Carrion: 25-22 in 35 innings. In his second appearance, Carrion remains far below his skill level against the Korean Han, who leaves him far behind, 25-10 in 23 innings.
Jiseung Han from Korea and Christoper Ramirez from Peru also make a nervous start at this global stage. The match, in the first round, is won by Han in only 34 innings: 25-20. In his second match, Jiseung Han beats Carrion without being in trouble and already secures his place in the knockout, 25-10 in 23.
Thibaut Espada keeps the odds in his own hands a win over Christoper Ramirez 25-11 in 24. The Peruvian is therefore out for the next round. Carrion (against Ramirez) and Espada (against Han) play for the second spot in the group tomorrow.
The ranking:
1 Jiseung Han 4-0.877-5
2 Thibaut Espada 2-0.796-6
3 Andres Carrion 2-0.603-4
4 Christoper Ramirez 0-0.517-4
Group C:
Jung-Ju Shin has an easy start against Caro Nelson (21-8 in 18) and then shows up with the much better finish to 25-16 in 24. The other match is won by Tom Loewe, Patrick Butora can't stash his poor form, 25-13 in 39.
The Korean has no problems in his second match, leaving Tom Loewe behind on 25-10 in 20 innings. Caro Nelson keeps his chances for the second place, because Patrick Butora is without any chance again, 25-13 in 31 innings.
The ranking:
1 Jung-Ju Shin 4-1136-6
2 Caro Nelson 2-0.781-5
3 Tom Loewe 2-0.593-5
4 Patrick Bútora 0-0.371-6
Group D:
Myung-Woo Cho, who started as the main favourite, is not that not impressive in his first game against Ahmed Hatem. The young Korean finishes his match with a high run of 3: 25-13 in 23.
Arda Gungor, the Turkish number one, seems to make a bid for the second place in a moderate duel with Christian Sanchez, 25-23 in 38 in favour of the Turkish player.
The best match of the day comes from Myung-Woo Cho, who shines against Arda Gungor, 25-8 in 11 innings and thus raises his average to 1.470. Christian Sanchez and Ahmet Hatem go head-to-head to the finish, Sanchez grabs the win 25-24 in 28.
The ranking:
1 Myung-Woo Cho 4-1.470-7
2 Christian Sanchez 2-0.727-4
3 Arda Gungor 2-0.673-5
4 Ahmed Hatem 0-0.725-7.
Carlos Anguita in his match against Tae Kwan Kim
Mahmoud Ayman, posing for his opponent for the picture
Jiseung Han started with a win over Christoper Ramirez
Jung-Ju Shin defeated Caro Nelson in his group
Tom Loewe, not a great match, but a win over Patrick Butora
The Korean Myung Woo Cho couldn't shine with high runs yet
Arda Gungor finished two points ahead of Christian Sanchez