SHARM EL SHEIKH - The top field in the Sharm El Sheikh World Cup has been warned for a relative outsider. 48-year-old Korean Choong Bok Lee has been topping the rankings from the first days and entered the main draw as an unexpected contender for a top ranking. The come-back is impressive after two years with no competition. With the victory over Marco Zanetti (40-39 in 14), Lee secured to enter the top sixteen. Peter Ceulemans, the Belgian qualifier, started with a win over Dick Jaspers (40-32) and was after his three victories another amazing finisher in this field of world players. The main absentees: Dani Sánchez, Martin Horn, Gwendal Maréchal, Can Capak, Lütfi Cenet and Robinson Morales.
It was a level on this first day in the main draw that players did not shy away from, with matches of Torbjörn Blomdahl (10 innings), HaengJik Kim (11), (14), Eddy Merckx, Sung-won Choi, Semih Sayginer (15) Peter Ceulemans (16) and Jun Tae Kim (17 innings) and with an excellent closing run of Dion Nelin against Murat Naci Coklu with 17, Nikos Polychronopoulos against Tayfun Tasdemir with 11 and an almost finish of HaengJik Kim with 19, missing out on one point from the end. The best averages: Choong Bok Lee 2,285, Sung-won Choi 2,220, Peter Ceulemans 1,967.
That leads to the following knockout matches in the last sixteen in the first sessions on Friday:
The draw pitted Choong Bok Lee against Dick Jaspers, Peter Ceulemans faces Jung Han Heo, Torbjörn Blomdahl drew against Tayfun Tasdemir, Eddy Merckx against Semih Sayginer and HaengJik Kim plays again to Dion Nelin.
The draw:
10.00 (Egyptian time, 9.00 West Europe):
Peter Ceulemans-Jung Han Heo
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Sung-won Choi
Sameh Sidhom-Marco Zanetti
Choong Bok Lee-Dick Jaspers
12.00 (11.00 West Europe)
Jun Tae Kim-Jérémy Bury
Eddy Merckx-Semih Sayginer
HaengJik Kim-Dion Nelin
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Tayfun Tademir
That leads to the following knockout matches in the last sixteen, the first sessions on Friday:
The overview of the eight groups today:
Group A:
The spectacular start with Peter Ceulemans' win against Dick Jaspers (40-32 in 24) turns the battle upside down from the first blows. Jaspers is not a shadow of the player he is in his better days, even after a few lucky shots. Peter Ceulemans, who slightly has become a regular 1.6 player, is evenly matched until 25-25 and 30-30 and then breaks away from Jaspers. Gwendal Maréchal does what he has to do at the other table: win against Erick Tellez, the Costa Rican, with 40-31 in 22. Peter Ceulemans, with a lot of confidence and form, also takes the match against Maréchal to his hand. The Frenchman gets upset after the tall Belgian has made 7 and 10 in the first 8 innings. That puts him on the way to win after 32-18 in 17 to 40-23 in 21. It goes to a showdown with Ceulemans already qualified and Jaspers (who wins vs Tellez, the same with 7 and 10 for 40-16 in 19) and Maréchal in a fight for the other spot. The last session ends with Ceulemans getting the maximum match score (win against Tellez, 40-13 in 16) and the runner-up position which goes to Jaspers. The Dutchman beats Maréchal 40-18 in 18, which means the elimination for the Frenchman.
Peter Ceulemans in his commentary: ,,Hard to judge if this is a real breakthrough. I could only just pass the the qualification, so I can certainly do better. But now it was the perfect day. I played wel in every match, with good focus and energy. I know I can do this, but sometimes the puzzle pieces have to fall together. Don't forget, I already played a semi-final in a World Cup in Porto 2014. My ambitions? Oops, I have no idea. Maybe one day I'll make a new move, but I have been working for the same company for 20 years and have a good balance between work, family and billiards. So, for the time being, not an option. I should also need sponsors, otherwise it won't work out.''
Peter Ceulemans, the maximum score, ready for a breakthrough
The ranking in Group A:
1 Peter Ceulemans 6-1,967-10
2 Dick Jaspers 4-1,836-10
3 Gwendal Maréchal 2-1,327-7
4 Erick Tellez 0-1,052-8
Group B:
Marco Zanett is the attentive observer of the Korean match Choong Bok Lee against Dong Hoon Kim, after he himself defeated Egyptian Youssef Ossama 40-20 in 32. The magnificent player that Lee is, outplays this Kim 40-30 in 21 and directly increases his chances for qualification. The Korean succeeds in doing so in the match against Zanetti, with his amazing straight stroke. The Italian leads 36-26 in a match in which Lee then rans to 36-35 with nine first and then takes the match at 39-37 with a final run of three: 40-39 in 14, the best match so far. Dong Hoon Kim beats Ossama 40-14 in 24, Zanetti and Kim may fight for the second qualification place. Choong Bok Lee ends the group undefeated, as Ossama is beaten 40-22 in 33. Zanetti is the better of Dong Hoon Kim 40-25 in 17 and slips into the top sixteen.
The ranking in Group B:
1 Choong Bok Lee 4-1,764-10
2 Marco Zanetti 2-1,888-12
3 Dong Hoon Kim 2-1,532-9
4 Youssef Ossama 0-0.629-5
Choong Bok Lee, come-back man from Korea
Group C:
Eddy Merckx escapes the clutches of Can Capak in the end, a dangerous opponent for the group win. At 39-36 Merckx misses his last point twice, then scores the winning one with his left. Capak needs to make four for the draw, but misses after two (40-38 in 34). Sung-won Choi dominates the match against Riad Nady and wins 40-23. The cracker in this group, between Merckx and Choi, becomes a Belgian display of power. Merckx leads for the first time at 23-22 in 8 and 29-25 in 13 and two innings later after 4 and 7 he is on the line at 40-31 in 15 (2,666 against 2,066). Can Capak also played Nadi to his second loss and battles it out with Choi himself. Merckx, in a comfortable position, puts the brakes on against Nady and takes 35 innings to win (40-28!). With Sung-won Choi it is still about the qualification against Can Capak: a one-way match with 40-12.
The ranking in Group C:
1 Eddy Merckx 6-1,428-6
2 Sung-won Choi 4-2,220-14
3 Can Capak 2-1.168-5
4 Riad Nady 0-0.867-6
Eddy Merckx with a slow finish to an excellent group win
Group D:
In the Turkish clash, Tayfun Tasdemir steals the show against Lütfi Cenet in the first session of the day. On a 13-11 score for Cenet, Tasdemir launches an attack with a run of 15. That takes him to 26-13 in 13 and not much later the win with 40-20 in 20. Nikos Polychronopoulos and the Korean Hoon Hang Seo have an exciting fight. After a series of six zeros, Seo hits a 12, ends with three and has the best final shot. Poly is one point short in the equalizer: 40-39. The end of the match turns out differently than expected. Seo is the first to play against Tasdemir, who in great style ties the game with four out to 40-40 in 20 innings. Polychronopoulos wins the battle with Cenet (40-24 in 24), so three players are still fighting for two places. Only Cenet is already eliminated. Polychronopoulos crowns himself in the last round as group winner by his victory against Tayfun Tasdemir. The Greek finishes with a magnificent 11 and ends with 4 match points. Tasdemir is the best in average with 3 match points ahead of Seo, who loses his last to Cenet 40-23 in 23.
The ranking in Group D:
1 Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-1,676-11
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 3-1.833-15
3 Chang Hoon Seo 3-1.471-12
4 Lütfi Cenet 2-1,328-10
Nikos Polychronopoulos ran out with 11 in his match with Tasdemir
Group E:
Torbjörn Blomdahl is getting ready for the matches facing two strong opponents and himself starts with a certain ease against Egyptian Mohamed Abdin: 40-29 in 28. Jérémy Bury has remarkably little opposition from Wan Young Choi, whom he leaves behind 40-25 in 21. Torbjörn turns the match against Bury to his hand in the last part, the Frenchman still gets chances, but cannot make use of them. Blomdahl wins 40-35 in 24 and is unreachable after two rounds in the group. Wan Young Choi, who loses his second, keeps Abdin in a promising position, who has to duel with Bury for the second qualification. The Frenchman is by far the best and qualifies by winning the last match 40-23 in 22. Blomdahl ends in style with the best match of the day, in which he almost crowns a fantastic game in eight innings. The Swede goes into the break after a 12 with 27-7 and returns with a run of 10 after the break for 37-7. He wins 40-10 in 10 and is the gloriously group winner with 6 points ahead of Bury with 4 points
The ranking in Group E:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 6-1,935-12
2 Jérémy Bury 4-1,742-7
3 Mohamed Abdin 2-1,179-7
4 Wan Young Choi 0-1,133-9
Torbjörn Blomdahl showed his very best qualities in a match to 10 innings
Group F:
Dani Sánchez continues his winning streak after two tournament wins and goes to his first finish in this flight against Martin Horn (40-33 in 25). The duel fascinates until the last, the Spaniard is the better finisher. The other match in this group, between Jung Han Heo and Jun Tae Kim, seems to go in Heo's favour, but the young Kim shows his growing class. He decides the match in 17 innings 40-29. Then, he also beats Dani Sánchez in an excellent match 40-32 in 23. After two wins and 2.000 on average, the young Korean already secures of the last sixteen. Martin Horn is the better in the match with Heo (40-25 in 24) and keeps his chances. He still plays Kim. The final player of Veghel, Jung Han Heo, is not in his best condition after a long 26 hours trip and almost no sleep. Then, it is strange to see Dani Sánchez at the bottom of his group in the end after two tournament wins. Jun Tae Kim is the undefeated winner after beating Martin Horn 40-32 in 22. Jung Han Heo already seemed to be out of chances after losing to Horn, but gets back into the tournament by beating Sánchez 40-22 in 18, a kind of revenge for the lost final in Veghel.
The ranking in Group F:
1 Jun Tae Kim 6-1,935-7
2 Jung Han Heo 2-1,593-11
3 Martin Horn 2-1,478-10
4 Dani Sánchez 2-1,424-7
Jun Tae Kim, Korean's rising star
Group G:
What a magnificent finish by Dion Nelin in his match against Murat Naci Coklu. The Turk has the upper hand from the start with 12-7, 22-8 and 34-23. At that score, Nelin goes to the table and finishes with 17, one of the highlights so far in the event. On the other table in this group, HaengJik Kim lags far behind against Robinson Morales. The Colombian makes a strong impression and wins 40-29 in 22. And again, Coklu has to endure such torture, this time in his match against HaengJik Kim, the Korean who comes back from a big deficit. Coklu finishes with 2 runs in his last 7 innings, Kim finishes with 5, 3 and 7 and wins a supposedly lost match 40-32 in 18. Dion Nelin keeps his maximum score after winning over Robinson Morales (40-35 in 29). Nelin is reasonably safe for the last round, Nelin, Kim and Coklu are almost equal in average, so it can still go either way. The leading positions go to HaengJik Kim, after his formidable finish against Dion Nelin, and the Dane on place two. HaengJik almost goes through the finish line at 20-20, but he misses at 19 to finish one inning later: 40-24 in 12. Nelin joins Kim as runner-up, both with an average over 2, Kim with 19, Nelin with 17 as the best run. Coklu and Morales finish in third and fourth place after Coklu's victory over the Colombian 40-37 in 37.
The ranking in Group G:
1 HaengJik Kim 4-2,096-19
2 Dion Nelin 4-2,039-17
3 Murat Naci Coklu 2-1,432-9
4 Robinson Morales 2-1,417-10
HaengJik Kim, with 19 almost to the finish, only one missing
Group H:
The Turkish opener with Semih Sayginer and Gökhan Salman is the best in the first morning sessions. Sayginer's supremacy starts from 12-8 in 5 and ends with 40-25 in 15 ten innings later. Jose Maria Mas, who has grown stronger in the tournament, gives Sameh Sidhom a good resistance, competes until the end, but is beaten 40-39 at the finish in 32 innings. The chances turn, because Sayginer is outclassed by Sameh Sidhom. The Egyptian has not won the loot yet, because with 4 points he still plays against Salman (2 points, almost same average) and Sayginer still against Mas (2 points, best average). But Sidhom remains on the maximum score after his victory in the last match to Salman 40-29 in 19. And for Sayginer a victory over Mas (40-20 in 19) is enough to move on to the best 16.
The ranking in Group H:
1 Sameh Sidhom 6-1,621-8
2 Semih Sayginer 4-1,912-15
3 Gökhan Salman 2-1,468-7
4 Jose Maria Mas 0-0,950-6
Sameh Sidhom, the maximum score in his group