BOGOTA – Vietnamese player Phuong Vinh Bao is in a great form and is chasing a position in the higher ranks of the standings. Myung Woo Cho is defending his top spot against Dick Jaspers, Eddy Merckx, Marco Zanetti, Tayfun Tasdemir and others. Torbjörn Blomdahl saw his attempt fail in the qualification for the World Cup in Bogota this Thursday. Jung Han Heo, Tolgahan Kiraz, and Nick Polychronopoulos are also absent from the main tournament, which starts today, Friday, at 10.00 in Colombia (18.00 Western European time). Two Colombians, Alejandro Piza and Luis Martinez, advanced to the main draw with 32, where William Villanueva and Huberney Cataño were awarded a wildcard.
Phuong Vinh Bao, the world champion from three years ago, became a strong day winner this Thursday with 2.000 on average and a run of 13, ahead of Birol Uymaz, Wan Young Choi, Roland Forthomme, and Mikaël Devogelaere. The top eight of that ranking achieved two victories; three players qualified with one win and one draw. Raymon Groot was the only one with only one victory to become a group winner. The draw for the eight groups of four, of which the best 2 in each group advance to the knockout with 16:
Group A: Myung Woo Cho, Sam van Etten, Birol Uymaz, William Villanueva
Group B: Dick Jaspers, Huberney Cataño, Phuong Vinh Bao, Hong Chiem Thai
Group C: Eddy Merckx, Ja In Kang, Glenn Hofman, Jose Juan Garcia
Group D: Marco Zanetti, Raymon Groot, Peter Ceulemans, Wan Young Choi
Group E: Tayfun Tasdemir, Alejandro Piza, Jérémy Bury, Roland Forthomme
Group F: Quyet Chien Tran, Mikaël Devogelaere, Luis Martinez, Thanh Luc Tran
Group G: Sameh Sidhom, Sergio Jimenez, Berkay Karakurt, Omer Karakurt
Group H: Frédéric Caudron, Muammer Rahmet, Martin Horn, Javier Vera.
The final qualifications in the groups on Thursday
Group A:
Mexican Javier Vera is a big surprise with victories over Jung Han Heo and Merlin Romero. The veteran in this field defeats his opponents 40 in 35 and 25 innings. Heo, a top player on the rankings for a long time, is defeated 40-34 by Vera and cannot join the elite. Romero played beautiful preliminary rounds, but the final hurdle is too high.
Standings in Group A:
1 Javier Vera 4-1.333-10
2 Jung Han Heo 2-1.480-11
3 Merlin Romero 0-0.966-5
Group B:
The top-seeded Colombian comes from this group. Luis Martinez overpowers Tolgahan Kiraz and Jose Maria Mas with 3 match points. The first match between Martinez and Mas ends in a draw: 40-40 in 28. Kiraz beats Mas but is defeated by Martinez by a wide margin: 40-19 in 22. The Colombian shines in front of his home crowd with 1.600.
Standings in Group B:
1 Luis Martinez 3-1.600-9
2 Tolgahan Kiraz 2-1.156-5
3 Jose Maria Mas 1-1.280-8
Group C:
The erratic Vietnamese Phuong Vinh Bao is in magnificent form and defeats Sam van Etten 40-31 in 20 innings. Bao does the same with Santiago, leaving him at 13 caroms. Two times 40 in 20 give the Vietnamese the best average of the day: 2.000. Young Dutchman Sam van Etten, also a great classic player, finishes as runner-up with 2 points and 1.690. That is just enough for a place in the top three of the runners-up and therefore a spot in the main tournament.
Standings in Group C:
1 Phuong Vinh Bao 4-2.000-13
2 Sam van Etten 2-1.690-6
3 Alejandro Santiago 0-0.928-5
Group D:
What a nice surprise from Raymon Groot, the Dutchman from New York, who leads a group with three two-point players by a wide margin on average. He beats Ahmet Alp and loses to Ruben Legazpi 40-34 in 25. The Spaniard squanders his chances by losing to Alp 40-32 in 39.
Standings in Group D:
1 Raymon Groot 2-1.510-12
2 Ruben Legazpi 2-1.125-7
3 Ahmet Alp 2-1.000-6
Group E:
Turk Muammer Rahmet defeats Hong Chiem Thai 40-32 in 23 and becomes group winner. Rui Manuel Costa, with the lowest average of all 32, plays no role in the fight for the top spot. Hong Chiem Thai beats the Portuguese 40-18 in 17 and, due to his high average, advances to the main draw as second reserve.
Standings in Group E:
1 Muammer Rahmet 4-1.290-8
2 Hong Chiem Thai 2-1.800-7
3 Rui Manuel Costa 0-0.857-5
Group F:
Roland Forthomme defeats two tough opponents, the German Tom Löwe in a tight battle with 40-38 in 33. In his final round, the Belgian is superior against Turgay Orak with 40-22 in 17, making Forthomme the proud winner.
Standings in Group F:
1 Roland Forthomme 4-1.600-9
2 Turgay Orak 2-1.377-6
3 Tom Löwe 0-1.114-7
Group G:
Birol Uymaz, who is making an excellent impression and finishing among the highest averages, starts with a comfortable 40-14 in 18 innings against Daniel Morales, the Colombian who disappoints. Morales does recover against Nick Polychronopoulos, who is no match for him with 40-18 in 21 innings and is later eliminated by Uymaz 40-35 in 23 innings.
Standings in Group G:
1 Birol Uymaz 4-1.951-10
2 Daniel Morales 2-1.384-8
3 Nick Polychronopoulos 0-1.204-
Group H:
Omer Karakurt wins his two matches against Gökhan Salman and Gwendal Maréchal in 20 and 32 innings respectively and, as group winner, faces a great duel tomorrow against his brother Berkay, among others. Maréchal and Salman lag behind in average and match points.
Standings in Group H:
1 Omer Karakurt 4-1.538-9
2 Gwendal Maréchal 2-1.263-6
3 Gökhan Salman 0-1.222-8
Group I:
The second Colombian, Alejandro Piza, entertains the crowd with a 3-point victory. He defeats Bong Joo Hwang 40-31 in 23 innings and draws against Ja In Kang 40-40 in 29. The Korean In Kang, known in the Netherlands and Germany for his temporary stays there, advances to the round of 32 as the number one on the reserve list.
Group I standings:
1 Alejandro Piza 3-1.538-7
2 Ja In Kang 3-1.333-5
3 Bong Joo Hwang 0-1.129-7
Group J:
In a group with equal averages, the Spaniard Sergio Jimenez is the lucky winner with 3 match points, but he secures that group win against Jean Paul de Bruijn. Jimenez defeats the Dutchman in the decisive duel 40-31 in 25 innings. De Bruijn narrowly misses out on the positions that qualify with the runners-up. Andres Lizarazo is number 3 in the group with 1 point against Jimenez.
Standings in Group J:
1 Sergio Jimenez 3-1.666-7
2 Jean Paul de Bruijn 2-1.479-10
3 Andres Lizarazo 1-1.500-7
Group K:
Mikaël Devogelaere crowns himself this group’s hero with a win in the final match against Torbjörn Blomdahl: 40-31 in 23 innings. The Swede, with the highest average and runs of 11 and 10, squanders his chances due to that loss against the Frenchman and is not allowed to participate even as runner-up. Devogelaere, who started a new billiards career as a professional player, is making rapid progress. In his group, TTT Nguyen, a renowned Vietnamese player, has been eliminated with 0 points and 1.520. Which proves how strong this group is. Standings in Group K:
1 Mikaël Devogelaere 4-1.568-7
2 Torbjörn Blomdahl 2-1.641-11
3 TTT Nguyen 0-1.520-9
Group L:
Previous day's winner Wan Young Choi also puts on a strong performance against Myeong Jong Cha and Arnim Kahofer with wins in 24 and 22 innings. Cha and Kahofer fall behind; Cha defeats Kahofer 40-32 in 26.
Standings in Group L:
1 Wan Young Choi 4-1.739-10
2 Myeong Jong Cha 2-1.360-10
3 Arnim Kahofer 0-1.125-6.