3-Cushion
LUXOR - He was not the best player of the day, definitely not, in the opening rounds at the World Cup in Luxor. But he was the happiest of all players in the billiard arena, by far, after two victories and the knowledge that he may return tomorrow (Monday). Frank Loosveldt (57, from Meulebeke in Belgium) defeated two Egyptians in two pretty tough fights. ,,I came here to play billiards for two matches and then have some fun at the swimming pool.''
Forget it, Frank Loosveldt, after your wins against Mohamed and Osama. The World Cup will take a day longer at least and they will certainly miss you for another day at the chic pool along the Nile. ,,It's my second time in Luxor, my second World Cup ever'', said the Belgian, who owns the company FL-decor in Meulebeke and is known, according to his team mates, as the best parquet layer in the entire Flanders.
He has been playing billiards for only eight years, and he came in contact with the sport by chance. ,,My daughter was a friend of Paola, who was married to Frédéric Caudron at that time. I had never heard of him. I was allowed to lay the parquet in Fred's room and came back with a billiard table. I played the game when I was very young, but I always ruptured the cloth and was sent away by the lady-boss.'' At home, he has a hundred square meter large billiard room now. Frank Loosveldt is a member of KV Kortrijk and plays around 0.5 average. ,,I make too many stupid mistakes'', he says with a big smile. But in the World Cup of Luxor that should not spoil his fun.
He was an amateur, a goldfish in the Nile amid many home players and a few well known guys like Jacob Haack Sörensen, Serdar Gumus, the world artistic billiards, Ronny Brants, who outplayed Semih Sayginer here two years ago and the first strong Koreans who led the field. Jungsub Kim was the most impressive with a sweeping match against Joel Switala (40-7 in 16) and 1.428 over two games. Jacob Haack Sörensen survived without being in trouble against Fneish Mahdi and the young Youssef Ossama with 1.304 average. Furthermore, Su Hyun Cho remained just under twenty innings.
The Dutchman Dave Christiani had to cancel for tomorrow, because one of his friends passed away. Therefore, the Korean Sung Il Jeong advanced as the best reserve.
The day ranking:
1 Su Hyun Cho 4-1.578-7
2 Jungsub Kim 4-1.248-7
3 Jacob Haack Sörensen 4-1.304-8
4 Ronny Brants 4-1.176-7
5 Serdar Gumus 4-0.983-6
6 Myoung Gyoo Park 4-0.882-9
7 Dong Keun Jung 4-0.882-4
8 Bo Gustavsson 4-0.674-4
9 Fadi Abousaleh 4-0.566-6
10 Ahmed Hatem 4-0.540-5
11 Frank Loosveldt 4-0.491-5
12 Magdy Salah El Din 4-0.444-5.
The Belgian amateur Frank Loosveldt, another day in the World Cup
Jungsub Kim, the number second of the day
Serdar Gumus, the Turkish world champion artistic billiards