3-Cushion
SUWON - The Korean adventure of Joel Switala and Antonio Ortiz seems to be doomed to failure. The Spanish champion and the always cheerful Frenchman have an impossible mission tomorrow: they are coupled in the draw with the Korean who was the very best in the sessions of today.
Hyung Kon Kim showed in his two matches that he can grow out to one of the new stars at Korean three-cushion sky. In his preliminary rounds with Bong Soo Kim and Ih Sub Jin the leader of the ranking was from an exceptional class. He won his first with 2.727 average, with a series of thirteen, and the second with exactly 2.000, finishing with an overall average of 2.307.
Joel Switala, globetrotter in billiards, and Antonio Ortiz, who could never show his real form after winning the Spanish title, may prepare themselves for a very hot day tomorrow.
They are not the only Europeans who have to fight against a wall of Korean intransigence and class. Ho Gyu Kang ended not so far from two average, Yun Sung Lee was a strong third in the dayranking, Jin Pyo Hong also made a big impression and finished third, the fifth in the ranking was the first no-Korean, the Vietnamese Chi Tanh Tran.
At the end of the day it was very interesting to look ahead to the schedule for tomorrow. Jean Paul de Bruijn and Eddy Leppens play in Group A with the Korean Hyun Min Seo, the number twelve in the ranking with 1.382 average.
Anh Vu Duong and Javier Palazón duel in Group B with Seong-Gwan Kim. Jung Han Heo, one of the revelations of the Agipi Masters, is playing against the Korean Ho Suk Jung and the Vietnamese Xuan Cuong Ma in Group C.
Two Turks open the Group D against each other: Murat Naci Coklu and Savas Bulut, later on they meet the Korean Youong Woo Kim.
Glenn Hoffman meets at least one well-known Korean, Dong Gung Kang, togethet with another Kang from the qualifying rounds: In-Won
Roland Forthomme has to duel in Group F with two Koreans: Jae Guen Kim and Seung Jin Lee. Ruben Legazpi meets Tatsuo Arai of Japan and Jae-Dong Choi from Korea. Haeng Jik Kim, the double junior world champion, is playing against the Vietnamese Chi Tanh Tran and the Japanese Kouji Funaki.
Sameh Sidhom and Pierre Soumagne, the two young players, meet Jin Pyo Hong. Adnan Yüksel and Ahmet Alp are the two Turkish players in Group J, they play against Korean Yun Sung Lee.
The Vietnamese Ly The Vinh faces Ho Gyu Kang and Tadamase Hagiwara and Hyung Kon Kim, the big man today, plays in Group L with Switala and Ortiz.
Fifteen of the 36 players in the next round, the last before the main event, are Koreans. They make up with a lot of confidence for the collision with the Europeans.