Koreans and Vietnamese top the title race

DONGHEA - The Korean and Vietnamese title favorites have qualified for the knock-out stage at the Asian Championships in Donghea. The preliminary rounds were completed this Thursday with eight groups of four players from whom the best 16 qualified. The final phase will be completed on Friday. The 16 finalists include eight Koreans, seven Vietnamese and one Japanese: Shouta Funaki.

Jun Tae Kim, the title holder, was the best in average with 6 match points out of 3 games: 2,000 exactly. The other players with the maximum match points are Myung Woo Cho with 1,739, Quyet Chien Tran with 1,395, Jun hyuk Son with 1,429 and Beom Yeol Lee (1,263).

Among others, Jun Tae Kim eliminated Ryuuji Umeda, Vietnamese Thanh Luc Tran, a high-flyer in the last World Cups, did not make it through qualification, and of the Japanese, Takeshima O and Takao Miyashita also did come through the preliminary stage. Haeng Jik Kim was placed in a tough group and came second after Ho Hoang Hung.

The seeded players for the knockouts are:

Group A:

1 Jun Tae Kim 6-2,000-10

2 Su Yeong Park 2-1,303-11

Group B:

1 Beom Yeol Lee 6-1,263-12

2 Shouta Funaki 3-1,056-9

Group C:

1 Jung Han Heo 4-1,966-14

2 Duc Minh Tran 4-1,566-12

Group D:

1 Jun Hyuk Son 6-1,429-9

2 Hong Chiem Thai 4-1,365-7

Group E:

Myung Woo Cho 6-1,739-10

2 Van Tai Nguyen 4-1,427-9

Group F:

1 Quyet Chien Tran 6-1,395-10

2 Myeong Jong Cha 4-1,444-12

Group G:

1 Hoang Hung Ho 4-1,691-7

2 Haeng Jik Kim 4-1,552-10

Group H:

1 Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1,761-12

2 Thanh Tan Le 4-1,354-8

The knockouts featuring the top 16 with the most appealing match between Haeng Jik Kim and Phuong Vinh Bao:

Jun Tae Kim-Su Yeong Park

Duc Minh Tran-Hoang Hun Ho

Beom Yeol Lee-Van Tai Nguyen

Hong Chiem Thai-Quyet Chien Tran

Hyuk Son Jun-Thahn Tien Le

Myeong Jong Cha-Jung Han Heo

Haeng Jik Kim-Phuong Vinh Bao

Shouta Funaki-Myung Woo Cho.