SEOUL - Better and more impressive, Dick Jaspers couldn't have shown his hegemony to the world of three cushion. The Dutch billiard player, who was the best in Europe last week, also was the better of all Koreans in their homeland, this Sunday afternoon in the prestigious Survival 3C Masters in Seoul. Jaspers received 8,800 euros one week ago for winning the European title, and 50,000 dollars for winning the Masters. The best year in Jaspers' career is only getting better. The Dutch man, in his very best form, seems to win all events that crosses his path. The honor list of the world's best, in the year in which he and almost all his colleagues from the world's top 25 refused to sign a so-called 'professional contract' in Korea, is growing bigger and bigger.
The world champion, European champion and world's number one overpowered three Koreans in a match with four finalists on Sunday afternoon in the Survival Masters. The supremacy in the final was not so great as in the semi-finals, when it turned out into a Jaspers-show for which he was warmly rewarded with an ovation by his rivals. The final match, at the end, was exciting until the last caroms. Jung-Han Heo came close, four points down, but Jaspers finally finished with 80 points ahead of Heo with 68, Jae-Ho Cho 48 and In-Won Kang 44 points.
The run-up to the final wasn't always a bed of roses, because Jaspers was the number sixteen from the pre-rounds and the losers round. "I have to say that this is a very tough format, but it's wonderful and so well shown to the Kozoom audience", was Jaspers' first comment after the victory. ''I was lucky when I needed that little luck. It was the perfect scenario for me, but I will keep my feet on the ground. I have now played three finals in the Survivals and I won two of them. But it was a hard mission all the time, also now in this Masters. We had to make the long trip from the European championship, switch again directly. But, I really enjoy it of course, because these are highlights in your career, it doesn't happen so much, winning so many tournaments in one year.''
This Sunday night, Korean time, five hours after the final, Jaspers travelled back to the Netherlands, to take his flight again one week later for the World Cup in HoChi Minh. That strengthens him in the decision to stay with the UMB and not to choose for all the tournaments in Korea. Dick Jaspers, ''I was told during the tournament that the negotiations between UMB and PBA to cooperate have failed, because the UMB does not agree with the multitude of tournaments that the PBA wants to organize. I can understand the UMB well, but I also understand the players who are lower on the rankings and can now earn some money.''
The final day of the Survival Masters first was the stage in the semi-finals for two clashes of cultures. Three Koreans faced Torbjörn Blomdahl in the first round, three Europeans faced the Korean In-Won Kang in the second match. Jung-Han Heo and Jae-Ho Cho were the winners in the first fight, In-Won Kang and Dick Jaspers as the two remaining finalists.
Wan Young Choi, 35, from Cheonan in his first Survival, was the first to score and take a lead. Torbjörn Blomdahl missed the start against the Koreans Jung-Han Heo, Jae-Ho Cho and Wan Young Choi and couldn't play a serious role throughout the game. At the break, Heo led with 64 points ahead of Cho with 36, Young with 12 and Blomdahl with 8 points. With two decisive attacks of 8 and 7, Jung-Han Heo ran into a big margin, which resulted in a total of 135 points. Jae Ho Cho and Wan Young Choi both finished on 47 points, after which both players scored twice in their last inning. The shoot-out had to decide on the number two position behind Heo. Choi went from the break with 4, the tension was increased by Cho, who was unlucky on one point and then made the winning fifth point to his great joy.
In-Won Kang, 44 from Osan, who played in Holland and lived in Germany in the past, dominated his two opponents before the stop in the other semi-final. Dick Jaspers remained in his shadow. Marco Zanetti and Dani Sánchez both had a moderate start. The second part brought some tension on top: the scores in between always spoke in favor of Kang and later Jaspers. The Dutchman finally pulled the trigger in the inning after the break, in which he scored a technically perfect 12 and increased his score to 118 and another 12 for 151 points, 3.000 on average. In-Won Kang stayed ahead of his two opponents in the final part and continued his triumph march. Marco Zanetti and Dani Sánchez could not take the final obstacle to the final.
The scores in the final match:
1 Dick Jaspers 80-1.687-10
2 Jung-Han Heo 68-1.500-3
3 Jae-Ho Cho 48-1.187-5
4 In-Won Kang 44-1.125-3.
Semi-finals:
1 Jung-Han Heo 135-2,470-8
2 Jae-Ho Cho 47-1.176-4
3 Wan Young Choi 47-1.294-5
4 Torbjörn Blomdahl 11-0.647-2
1 Dick Jaspers 151-3,000-12
2 In-Won Kang 59-1.466-5
3 Dani Sánchez 19-0.800-5
4 Marco Zanetti 11-0.6666-4
Dick Jaspers, the winner, shows his joy after the final match with Marco Zanetti and In-Won Kang
Jung-Han Heo, close to the later winner in the final match
Jae-Ho Cho, the number 3 on stage
In-Won Kang, for the first time in a Survival, ''I was so happy to be able to participate, and now I am even happier to have been in the final match.''