SEOUL - 24-year old Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal is for the first time in South Korea, where he started his World Cup in Seoul with a tenth position in the day ranking. The frontrunner on the third day session is the Vietnamese Phung Vinh Bao, who was also among the best players on Tuesday and now hit the 2,000 average over two games. Turk Turgay Orak is the first European on position three, Berkay Karakurt defeated his brother Omer Karakurt in an exciting final sprint with a one carom margin, which means Berkay will return in the next round and Omer returned home. The ultimate last day of qualifying brings many big names against each other, including Berkay Karakurt and Lütfi Cenet, Jose Juan Garcia and Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen, Ja In Kang, Duc Anh Chien and Gwendal Maréchal and Roland Forthomme and Ji Hun Ahn.
Phuong Vinh Bao (27) is the best man on these first days in the World Cup, in his second appearance with great victories over Kevin Vasseur (30-10 in 16, run of 14) and Cengiz Karaca (30-12 in 14). Korean Ji Hun Ahn played the best match on this second day against Hannuri Kim: 30-8 in 11. Berkay Karakurt, after beating his brother, also won in a curious match against Tae Hyeong Na: 30-2 in 16.
Three Dutchmen disappeared from the stage, including Therese Klompenhouwer and Sam van Etten. The Turks lost Ahmet Alp (2 match points, 1.526), Burak Hashas and Volkan Goksu. Nikolaus Kogelbauer was eliminated with two match points and 1.088, Therese Klompenhouwer with one draw and 1.017, Wesley de Jaeger with one draw and 0.781, Dustin Jäschke with two match points and 0.976.
Gwendal Maréchal did not fase the most easy opponents for his Korean debut: Jin Youl Kim, the best player of the second day and the Austrian Claus Maurer. Gwendal: ''The Korean started well, I came back and at the end of the match I was a little bit nervous, but fortunately I could finish it. And in my second match, I felt tired, probably because of the jetlag. I am not used to that, because this is my first time in Korea. But fortunately I was able to qualify for the next round.''
The Frenchman, former European junior champion (2018, Ronchin), who enjoyed summer holidays in his home town close to the ocean, has prepared pretty well for the World Cup. Maréchal made a promising start in the World Cup circuit three or four years ago, including with his best tournament in his own country in La Baule, but he didn't have a great last year.
''I'm not so happy with my results, but I have not been able to play much, because of my studies. Still, I achieved 1,400 on average. My next year will be the same, my last year of studies.''
The draw for the next round, the last qualification day for the main tournament, paired Maréchal with the Vietnamese number two of the World Championship in Randers, Duc Anh Chien Nguyen. His second opponent is Korean Ja In Kang.
The groups for this final qualifier (winners of the 12 groups and three best numbers two will qualify):
Group A:
Min Suk Kim, Kyung Baeg Kim, Sung Won Choi (three Koreans)
Group B:
Jun Tae Kim, Bong Joo Hwang, Hong Chiem Thai
Group C:
Gwendal Maréchal, Ja In Kang, Duc Anh Chien Nguyen
Group D:
Nikos Polychronopoulos, Xuan Cuong Ma, Arley Castrillon
Group E:
Gökhan Salman, Tatsuo Arai, Myung Woo Cho
Group F:
Lütfi Cenet, Berkay Karakurt, Arnim Kahofer
Group G:
Jeffrey Jorissen, Pedro Gonzalez, Myeong Jong Cha
Group H:
Jose Juan Garcia, Tran Thanh tu Nguyen, Jun Hyuk Son
Group I:
Ronny Lindemann, Choong Bok Lee, Quang Hao Truong
Group J:
Wan Young Choi, Turgay Orak, Mashhour Abu Tayeh
Group K:
Trung Hau Do Nguyen, Ji Hun Ahn, Roland Forthomme
Group L:
Peter Ceulemans, Riad Nady, Phuong Vinh Bao.
The ranking of the third day of the World Cup:
1 Phung Vinh Bao 4-2,000-14
2 Ji Hun Ahn 4-1,875-8
3 Turgay Orak 4-1,666-8
4 Quang Hao Truong 4-1,578-7
5 Jun Hyuk Son 4-1,538-9
6 Myeong Jong Cha 4-1,463-10
7 Berkay Karakurt 4-1,276-9
8 Tatsuo Arai 4-1,276-7
9 Arley Castrillon 4-1,200-7
10 Gwendal Maréchal 4-1,153-6
11 Hong Chiem Thai 4-1,111-6
12 Kyung Baeg Kim 4-0,895-6
13 Min Suk Kim 3-1,621-7
14 Bong Joo Hwang 3-1,333-9
15 Ja In Kang 3-1,224-6
16 Xuan Cuong Ma 2-1,094-11
Gwendal Maréchal, enjoying his first stay in South Korea