3-Cushion
LUXOR - The Korean Ji Hun Ahn plays hia matches in Luxor these days with an angel on the edge of the billiard. The luck is with him in the preliminaries at the World Cup. He already was very close to be out on Monday in the match against his countryman Sung Il Jeong. For the decisive point, at 29-29, Jeong made a terrible miscue. Today, Tuesday, Ji Hun Ahn escaped again miraculously in his match against one of his compatriots. Kwang Yeol Park led comfortably, 26-11 in ten innings. Ji Hun Ahn, with glasses and a moustache, made a last effort and put up a great final sprint. He won the match to the finish line, 30-29 in 19 innings. And in his last match of the day against the Turk Ali Kemal Gunaydin, there was another good final sprint with a last run of seven, which brought him with 1.579 general in the top of the ranking.
Most of all, it was the glorious day of Jean Paul de Bruijn, who was by far the best man of the day, but also the day of the unexpected free fall of Glenn Hofman and Barry van Beers, two other Dutch contenders in the preliminaries. The Egypt success came from two outside-players, Hesham Zagloul and Mohsen Fouda.
Ji Hun Ahn, from Dae-Jeon city, just one hours from Seoul, is one of hundreds of Koreans that flood the World Cups. For the next World Cup in Ho Chi Minh, for example, there are 18 Korean preliminary players on the list and 64 on the reserve list. It's not impossible that the number will top one hundred, a record over the years of World Cups.
The 35-year-old Ji Hun Ahn says he is a 'professional player' since he was fourteen. He earns a living by teaching billiards and has the names of four sponsors on his billiard vest. He spends six hours for practice every day. That brought him to twice a place in the main draw of a World Cup so far, in Ho Chi Minh and Bursa. ,,My condition on the first day was not that good, so I didn't play well'', Ahn explained. ,,I was tired, because I travelled 34 hours to arrive in Luxor.'' But when the elimination was near, he realized himself that suddenly an angel appeared on his billiard table.
The Asians, however, in some matches were also vulnerable in the meetings with the European (sub) top. The best player of the day was Jean Paul de Bruijn with two brilliant games. The Dutchman overwhelmed Sang Ku Kang in his first, 30-15 in 18 innings (run 10) and was even better in his second against Quang Hao Truong, scoring a 13 to the finish. That resulted in the best score of the day with 4 match points, 1935 and a run of 13.
Kostas Kokkoris met two Danes on his way, lost his first match to Lars Dunch, who was trumped by Allan Schröder. The last match decided over group win: the Greeks swiped away his first misstep against Dunch (30-18 in 20) and finished as the group winner.
Glenn Hoffman had to leave the tournament earlier than expected. The strong start on Monday couldn't be continued, because Young Hoon Lee quickly ran away and closed the match with eight in the penultimate inning to claim the win at 30-21 in 14.
Birol Uymaz showed up in one of the strongest groups, but he first bested Jacob Haack Sörensen (30-19 in 24) and then also his Kimchi team mate Therese Klompenhouwer (30-8 to 15). Therese, the women's world champion, only was strong in the first game when she equalized with six against Sörensen.
,,This is my lucky day'', beamed Jose Maria Mas, after he witnessed from the stands how Ronny Lindemann (who beat Mas) lost his chances against Hideaki Kobayashi. Two Egyptians sparkled with unexpected gains. Hesham Zagloul got the better of Barry van Beers, who had a complete off-day (30-16 in 29 innings). And Mohsen Fouda starred against Vinh Ly The, as the Vietnamese missed the carom in the equalizer to be the group winner.
Ngo Dinh Nai, on stage at the Asian championship, started with a draw against Quang Hai Dinh and then played the best match of the day against Salah Farouk in 12 innings. Arnim Kahofer had the better final sprint in his two matches and finished as the winner with a sober 0.923.
Jean Paul de Bruijn showed his supremacy
The day ranking on Tuesday
1 Jean Paul de Bruijn 4-1.935-13
2 Young Hoon Lee 4-1.818-8
3 Ji Hun Ahn 4-1.578-9
4 Seung Jin Lee 4-1.538-9
5 Birol Uymaz 4-1.395-6
6 Mohsen Fouda 4-1.000-4
7 Arnim Kahofer 4-0.923-6
8 Dinh Nai Ngo 3-1.621-8
9 Jose Maria Mas 2-1.727-9
10 Jung Ju Shin 2-1.441-6
11 Kostas Kokkoris 2-1.138-6
12 Hesham Zaghloul 2-0.675-4.
Three of four Dutch contenders were outplayed, only Jean Paul de Bruijn (second left) survived
Kostas Kokkoris was the better in a group with two Danes
Birol Uymaz bested his Kimchi team mate Therese Klompenhouwer
Jose Maria Mas, my lucky day
Egypt's Mohsen Fouda surprised with group win