3-Cushion
HURGHADA – After the match, Jérémy Bury said with a smile: ,,I must have played Dani Sánchez a hundred times, and I’ve never won.'' He got rid of that trauma in the Hurghada World Cup, by beating his long-time nemesis.
A hundred times may have been a figure of speech, but at least a dozen times the Frenchman was up against the three-time world champion from Spain and left empty handed.
,,I remember the first time'', he said. ,,I was a young player and went to the European Championship in Antalya for the first time. I was low on the ranking and had to start against one of the favorites: Dani Sánchez.''
,,It was the first time I had travelled to a tournament, and I was nervous in the company of all these reknowned players. We played our match, and Dani just blew me off the table 3 sets to 0, 45 points in 13 innings. My total was 12 points in three sets.''
From there on, he was always the player I could never beat. ,,Dani often outdid himself when he played me. Like this year in the World Cup in Antalya: we were 2-2 and the 5th set started. I ran 2 points, and Dani made 15…''
Today Sánchez was the straight man, and Bury delivered the punchlines. The Frenchman fought hard, had to come from behind twice and did that courageously. He lost the first set 15-1, won the second 15-5, lost the third 15-6, won the fourth 15-4.
And again it looked like it would go wrong in the decider: Sánchez was quick out of the blocks to lead 10-4, but Bury responded with an 8 (12-10). Two innings later, the man from Paris crossed the finishline with a 4, the final point – with a little kiss – being a fluke.
Murat Nace Coklu and Torbjörn Blomdahl played the best match of the round by far. Coklu had the initiative, Blomdahl kept the pace but was behind by a shoesize in every set.
The Turk won 3-1 averaging 2.428, Blomdahl lost with a 2.333 average. It was a glorious match for the spectators, with Coklu in lethal form at the start and in the winning fourth set.
Henry Diaz sang his last notes against Lütfi Cenet, whom he could fend off in the first set (15-12), but in the remaining three the Colombian was outdone (15-8, 15-4, 15-6).
Filippos Kasidokostas ended the beautiful run by Peter Ceulemans. The Greek, four years younger, ran away to a 2-0 lead, was held up in the third, but decided the match in the fourth: 15-11 (2.000/1.653).
Murat Naci Coklu will meet Jérémy Bury in the quarterfinals, Lütfi Cenet will play Filippos Kasidokostas.