LUXOR - The young Turk Omer Karakurt, former European junior champion and second at the junior World championship behind HaengJik Kim, recovered from a false start at the World Cup of Luxor. On the second day, he was the best of the twelve group winners and also played the best match of the day: 30-14 in 15 innings against Ahmed Abdallah.
Two major Korean talents showed up; only one of them, Myung Woo Cho, returns to the next round. He won the prestigious battle against his compatriot Jung Ju Shin, the number three of the last junior World championship, in a magnificent fight: when Shin seemed out of his reach and was two points from the end, he missed a bank shot. Cho first closed the margin and then finished it of with eight: 30-28 in 21. The unfortunate Shin finished the day as the first reserve, but must wait for an opportunity to return.
Omer Karakurt was not on his best on Sunday and could only return as the first reserve player. He grabbed his second chance with both hands: his first win 30-8 in 22 innings against Hamed Mohssen, followed by a win in 15 vs Abdallah.
He led the standings after the second day, which consisted of six Turks, two Greeks (Kostas Kokkoris and Ioannis Antoniou), one Korean (Myung Woo Cho), one German (Dustin Jäschke), one Portuguese (good-old Jorge Bastos) and one Dutchman (Ronald van Geyt).
Salih Tekkeli, the best on the first day, qualified fifth with victories over Claus Maurer and Hideaki Kobayashi. Kostas Kokkoris had a smooth start with 1.000 of average, but with two wins in his group. Jorge Bastos won twice in 47 innings: the Portuguese is very welcome in the next round. Ronald van Geyt started with a loss, but won his second match and will finally return on the third day.
Manol Minaoglu showed his joy when his opponent Jeong Wan Lim missed the last carom. The Turk therefore triumphed 30-29 and qualified for the next round.
The top twelve on the second day:
1 Omer Karakurt 4-1.621-5
2 Myung Woo Cho 4-1.428-9
3 Hakan Incekara 4-1.428-9
4 Dustin Jäschke 4-1.153-7
5, Salih Tekkeli 4-1.071-6
6 Ioannis Antoniou 4-1.000-6
7 Kostas Kokkoris 4-1.000-5
8 Manol Minaoglu 4-0.923-6
9 Osman Yilmaz 4-0.882-6
10 Jorge Bastos 4-0.638-4
11 Ali Kemal Gunaydin 4-0.631-6
12 Ronald van Geyt 2-0.509-4.
Turkish player Omer Karakurt was the day's best
Tomorrow, Tuesday, the new day has to shake up things on top. Filippos Kasidokostas returns to the World Cup circuit. The Greek former world champion should not underestimate the the Turk Ahmet Bayatli in his group, the third is the Egyptian Ali Kamal Gunaydin. Kostas Kokkoris and Can Capak compete for the group win. Therese Klompenhouwer is in a tough group with Hakan Incekara and Javier Palazón. Salih Tekkeli meets two strong opponents: the Turk Ahmet Alp and Vietnamese Dinh Ngo Nai.
All matches are live on kozoom.com
Dustin Jäschke made an end to the illusions of William Oh
Kostas Kokkoris, the Greek number one, had a smooth start in Luxor
Ioannis Antoniou, one of the two Greek players in the day's top twelve.