3-Cushion
LUXOR - The player of whom Torbjörn Blomdahl says he has the best stroke in the world is his opponent in the semi-finals (Saturday) at the World Cup in Luxor. Haeng Jik Kim, back from being away and last year's Asian champion, already dealt with quite a few reputations in Luxor. Sung-Won Choi, the world champion, was his next victim in his punitive expedition. The two Korean top guns didn't show up in an exciting match, because HaengJik opened much stronger and already built up a riant margin (21-2) at the break. The desperate Choi briefly fought back to a six points backlog 27-21, after Kim decided the battle include a seven in the last innings.
The semi-finals for tomorrow (Friday) are:
HaengJik Kim-Torbjörn Blomdahl (11.00)
Dick Jaspers-Dani Sánchez (13.00).
Torbjörn Blomdahl had a later wake-up than Roland Forthomme at the other table. The Belgian started furiously with 14 in four innings, but then suffered a severe slump. His opponent took the initiative, lifted the score to 20-14 in his favour and won the match unchallenged, because Forthomme only scored eight times in his last 17 innings (40-22 in 21).
Dick Jaspers and Dani Sánchez put themselves into the spotlights in the last evening session. The Dutchman showed himself a two-class better player than the one who opened the tournament. He recovered fabulously and left both against Murat Naci Coklu (40-14 in 18) and Hyung Bum Hwang, the conqueror of Caudron (40-19 in 24) far behind. That brings Jaspers a step closer to a new World Cup success after his win in Porto last year. The battle between Jaspers and Sánchez (semi-finals) will be special as well: both players have an honor roll with three world titles.
HaengJik Kim and Torbjörn Blomdah are facing each other tomorrow in a fight with a historical value. ,,I've never played him before'', Kim said. ,,And it's also my first semi-final in a World Cup. When people ask me, which player in the world I admire the most, my answer is always: Torbjörn Blomdahl. He has such a wonderful honor roll, he's is such a fantastic player. If I lose the match tomorrow, I will be happy because I've played against him.''
Sung-Won Choi, whom he beat today, he faced before in official matches, including the Guri World Cup, where he lost to the world champion. ,,I was very nervous before my match today'', he said after his spectacular win. ,,I made also a mistake in the time, because I thought my match with Choi was two hours later.''
Dani Sánchez for his last point against Lütfi Cenet
Dani Sánchez and Lütfi Cenet walked hand-in-hand to 29-28. The Spaniard put up another tough fight after his wins against Kasidokostas and Tasdemir. Sánchez did what his opponent showed in his match against Merckx. The Spaniard made a gap with a decisive ten-run and beat Cenet under high pressure 40-36 in 25. ,,I don't know what happens to me'', Sánchez said, ,,but I don't play good, I feel nervous for that, but still I keep on winning. That's a strange, but a nice feeling.''
Torbjörn Blomdahl, watche by the Egyptian referee Bilo
Dick Jaspers