SEOUL - In the run-up to the World championship for national teams in Viersen, the 3C Survival Masters will be played for the third time this week in Seoul. The tournament is a new clash between the Europeans and Asians, in which the Koreans are chasing their first victory. Dani Sánchez and Dick Jaspers were the previous winners. The tournament was introduced last year by Kozoom International, inspired by a famous game in the Korean clubs with four players at the billiard table and a special scoring system.
The field of participants consists of 24 players, compiled according to the world ranking. The Koreans are in the majority with 7 players, followed by 4 Turks, 3 Belgians and 3 Vietnamese. The tournament starts on Thursday February 28th, the final is on Sunday March 2nd. The location is the Nest Hotel Incheon. On Wednesday, there is a UMB press conference of the world federation.
The 24 players:
1 Dick Jaspers (the Netherlands)
2 Frédéric Caudron (Belgium)
3 Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
4 Marco Zanetti (Italy)
5 Semih Sayginer (Turkey)
6 Jae-Ho Cho (Korea)
7 Quyet Chien Tran (Vietnam)
8 Jérémy Bury (France)
9 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam)
10 Sameh Sidhom (Egypt)
11 Jung-Han Heo (Korea)
12 Murat Naci Coklu (Turkey)
13 Haeng-Jik Kim (Korea)
14 Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey)
15 Dinh Nai Ngo (Vietnam)
16 Eddy Leppens (Belgium)
17 Sung-Won Choi (Korea)
18 Dani Sánchez (Spain)
19 Nikos Polychronopoulos (Greece)
20 Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden)
21 Dong-Koong Kang (Korea)
22 Myung-Woo Cho (Korea)
23 Lütfi Cenet (Turkey)
24 Hyung Kon Kim (Korea)
Six groups of Four pleayers:
The first qualifications groups, Thursday, February 28:
Match A: Jae-Ho Cho, Quyet Chien Tran, Dani Sánchez, Nikos Polychronopoulos
Match B: Semih Sayginer, Jérémy Bury, Sung-Won Choi, Torbjörn Blomdahl
Match C: Marco Zanetti, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Eddy Leppens, Dong-Koong Kang
Match D: Eddy Merckx, Sameh Sidhom, Dinh Nai Ngo, Myung-Woo Cho
Match E: Frédéric Caudron, Jung-Han Heo, Tayfun Tasdemir, Lütfi Cenet
Match F: Dick Jaspers, Murat Naci Coklu, Haeng-Jik Kim, Hyung Kon Kim.
Time schedule:
Wednesday 27th
1:30-5:30: players practice
5:00 UMB press conference
Thursday: matches
10:00 group A
12:00 group B
2:00 pm group C
4:00 pm group D
6:00 pm group E
9:00 pm group F
Friday: 5:00, 7:00 and 9:00 pm matches for second chances.
Saturday, March 2nd:
3:00: pm quarter-final A
5:00: pm quarter-final B
7:00: pm quarter-final C
9:00: pm quarter-final D
Sunday, March 3:
17.00: Semi-final A
19.00: Semi-final B
22.00: final match
Prize money:
1st: $50,000
2nd: $21,000
3rd: $18,000
4th: $15,000
5-8: $10,000
9-16: $7,000
17-24: $5,200
The matches are played with 4 players, over two equal halves of 45 minutes. At the start of both halfs, each player receives a credit of 30 points. Each point scored by one player is removed from the total points of his 3 opponents and added to his own total.
The time-clock is 30 seconds, 3 time-outs during the game.
When a player has no more points, he can choose between two options:
1- he steps out of the set and starts again with 30 points in the second half
2- he can take 30 points in advance.
Each set is finished when all players have done their last turn when the 45 minutes are over.
All matches are broadcast live on kozoom.
Dick Jaspers, winner of the last 3C Masters ahead of Quyet Chien Tran, Semih Sayginer and Chi Yeon Cho
Dani Sánchez won the first 3C Masters ahead of Semih Sayginer, Sung-Won Choi and Marco Zanetti.