LUXOR - What was really going on with Filippos Kasidokostas, the Greek player, who won his last match on Wednesday night at the World Cup in luxor by one carom, but didn't seem to be happy with this victory? What did he want to show, how was it to explain, his strange performance at the table and on his chair during the match? Many spectators in the billiards room and on Kozoom could see that the Greek former world champion, in the last innings, whispered some words in the ear of his opponent and even missed on purpose at the end after he scored his second last by a lucky shot. The mystery was hanging around in the Luxor arena for hours after the match.
Was it to show his sportsmanship, that he first missed for his last carom, to make clear how hopeless he was and that he couldn't show his high class and power? That question remained after his victory over Ahmet Bayatli, whom he eventually bested in the remarkable final part 30-29 in 27 innings.
The comeback kid, after a period of absence from World Cups, disturbed the Turkish player in his concentration with his behaviour. Did he try to apologize for that? And what many players and spectators wondered: did he really want to win the match? Another, major question now that he makes his comeback was: how is his trembling right arm, for which he should be in recovery? The Greek was playing with two gloves to quickly switch from right to left arm? He didn't answer himself to the questions so far, he only spoke with friends about his huge problem. Therefore, the riddles remain.
Tomorrow he will be back in this World Cup, the Greek, who was one of the biggest talents in the world of three cushion in his young years, but missed the real breakthrough after his impressive world title in Lausanne 2010. For whatever reason it was after the huge successes as a young player.
With his strange, mysterious laugh at the table, today in his match against Bayatli, he showed a certain kind of helplessness. Filippos Kasidokostas needs to convey that he can't show his high class because of an unwilling arm. Maybe there is a new chance, tomorrow, when he meets another former world champion: Sung-Won Choi. But there were so many doubts after his match... Will he return to the table on Wednesday?
What else happened today on the third day of the Luxor World Cup?
The not even 18-year-old Myung Woo Cho faced the almost sixty year Khaled Salem and secured a place in the next round. The Vietnamese Hau Trung Thu Nguyen, who is not even among the best players in his country, was merciless to the German Masters winner Dustin Jäschke (30-14 in 15 innings). Two other Vietnamese, Ngo Dinh Nai and Minh Cam Ma Ding ended the hopes of the Turks Ahmet Alp (30-27 in 17) and Tolgahan Kiraz (30-14 in 17) and then, with one session to go, two big fights were left.
The tension is tangible, there is sensation hanging in the air, Antoine Chart, one of the Egyptian top referees, announced as if he is a master soothsayer. Filippos Kasidokostas first made his comeback with an expected victory over Gunaydin (30-10 in 18), Kostas Kokkoris showed his class (30 to 16), but had to finish it afterwards in the second and decisive match against Can Capak. And he couldn't manage, the Greek number one: Capak secured his place in the next round by a logic victory in an uneventful match.
Before the final round started, there were some expected and unexpected casualties in this session. Therese Klompenhouwer was eliminated by Palazón and Incekara. Omer Karakurt, the day's best on Monday, could not impress against Tolgahan and Ma. And Salih Tekkeli, who survived two days, was stopped in his adventure in two poor performances against Alp (30-13 in 25) and Ngo (30-18 in 22), in summary, 0673 average.
Javier Palazón and Hakan Incekara played a fascinating end. The Spaniard finished first after a short sprint at the end. The Turk only came into his rhythm in the equalizer: he scored a four at a backlog of 30-24.
Then the waiting started, for two great matches in the final part of the evening: Kasidokostas against Bayatli and Kokkoris against Capak. The outcome was an anti-climax in the case of Kasidokostas-Bayatli and a disappointing performance by Kokkoris.
Two Vietnamese were the numbers one and two on top: Dinh Nai Ngo and Minh Cam Ma, both with four match points and 1.538, followed by the Koreans Kwang Yeol Park (1.500), Myung Woo Cho, Filippos Kasidokostas and Gökhan Salman (1.333).
The format for Wednesday brings together two former world champions: Sung-Won Choi and Filippos Kasidokostas, with the third man in the group the Egyptian Ihab El Messery.
Other interesting groups for Wednesday:
Group A: Coklu, Uymaz, Ngo
Group C: Kang, Tüzül, Park
Group D: Heo, Cho, Papakonstantinou
Group G: Yüksel, Sayginer, Palazón
Group I: Polychronopoulos, Capak, Ma
The day's top twelve:
1 Dinh Nai Ngo 4-1.538-9
2 Minh Cam Ma 4-1.538-7
3 Kwang Yeol Park 4-1.500-10
4 Myung Woo Cho 4-1.333-9
5 Filippos Kasidokostas 4-1.333-8
6 Gökhan Salman 4-1.333-6
7 Javier Palazón 4-1.200-5
8 Jin Pyo Hong 4-1.153-8
9 Can Capak 4-1.132-8
10 Dionisis Tsokantas 4-1.132-6
11 Emrullah Basegmez 4-0.952-6
12 Trung Hau Do Nguyen 2-1.365-12.
Dinh Nai Ngo was the day's best
Javier Palazón had the better finish in the match against Hakan Incekara
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The Koreans HaengJik Kim, Choong-Bok Lee and Jung Ju Shin in the stands
The billiards room in the Sonesta St George hotel