NEW YORK - The best start at the Verhoeven Open in New York was for Eddy Leppens and Martin Horn with a promising 2.273 over two matches. Luis Aveiga is on the edge of elimination already after one day with two losses, Dion Nelin won his two matches, but his start very modest. And with Martin Horn (2.273), Tae Kyu Lee (1.724) and William Oh (1.481) this group is by far the strongest of the fourteen groups in the first round of qualifications. The famous tournament in the Carom Cafe started in the ambiance that recalls nice memories for many players. As of today, Tuesday, Kozoom will broadcast all matches. The team missed the start due to a flight delay of two days in Paris.
The stars on the first day were the Belgian Eddy Leppens and the German Martin Horn, two players who already were among the big guns in New York. Eddy Leppens even played the final against the Korean Jae-Ho Cho, the winner of 2017 who's missing in the field this year. Leppens was the better of Eake and Shin in 9 and 13 innings, in both matches was the score 25-3. Martin Horn defeated Luis Aveiga and Walid Eikhouly in 16 and 6 innings. Aveiga lost 25-19 and later also 25-18 to William Oh, the number three in the ranking after two rounds.
Quyet Chien Tran, the World Cup winner in Ho Chi Minh, faced an excellent Herbert Szivacz, who left the Vietnamese 25-11 in 9 innings. Tran was better in his match with Jekov with a win in 16 innings. Dion Nelin took his two matches against Vassi and Acevedo in 26 and 27 innings, giving him a modest 0.943 average. Wilco Meusen and John Hernan are undefeated as well in this group. Roland Forthomme started with a victory over Switala (25-23 in 28) and Meerten Dallinga (25-13 in 14). The German national coach Wolfgang Zenkner surprised Turk Can Capak, but lost without any chance to Julian Molina 25-9 in 22 innings.
The top three in the fourteen groups after the first day (first two advance to the next round with the best four numbers three):
Group A:
1 Fernando Diaz 2-4-0.943-4
2 Kang Lee 2-4-0.980-6
3 Samir Derradji 2-2-0.868-7
Group B:
1 Eddy Leppens 2-4-2.273-9
2 Sang Jin Lee 2-4-1.111-4
3 Song Lim 2-4-0.833-4
Group C:
1 Miguel Torres 2-4-1.111-6
2 Young Gull Lee 2-4-0.833-4
3 Alexander Weiss 2-4-0.781-5
Group D:
1 Dion Nelin 2-4-0.943-7
2 John Hernan 2-4-0.909-7
3 Wilco Meusen 2-4-0.735-5
Group E:
1 Martin Horn 2-4-2.273-8
2 Tae Kyu Lee 2-4-1.724-11
3 William Oh 2-4-1.481-11
Group F:
1 Hugo Patino 2-4-1.250-7
2 Najiv Ramirez 2-4-0.833-6
3 Young Ha Choi 2-4-0.746-5
Group G:
1 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 2-4-1.786-7
2 Allan Lys Jensen 2-4-0.980-5
3 George Harry Pena 2-4-0.909-4
Group H:
1 Herbert Szivacz 2-4-1.786-7
2 Dan Johansen 2-4-1.220-7
3 Quyet Chien Tran 2-2-1.440-6
Group I:
1 Roland Forthomme 2-4-1.190-9
2 Raye Raskin 2-4-0.658-4
3 Meerten Dallinga 2-2-0.691-4
Group J:
1 Sameh Sidhom 2-4-1.190-4
2 Nikolaus Kogelbauer 2-2-0.698-4
3 Hyuk Yoon 2-4-0.673-4
Group K:
1 Huberney Cataño 2-4-1.563-6
2 Vandenver Reina 2-4-0.685-4
3 Brain Haff 2-4-0.633-3
Group L:
1 Can Capak 2-2-1.778-7
2 Julian Molina 2-2-0.979-7
3 Fred Lamers 2-2-0.925-5
Group M:
1 Javier Teran 2-4-0.694-4
2 Bassem Salem 2-4-0.495-4
3 Eunkoo Cho 2-4-0.446-5
Group N:
1 Carlos Mario Villegas 2-4-1.163-5
2 Carlos Campino 2-2-1.214-7
3 Michael Kang 2-2-0.712-4.
Martin Horn bested Luis Aveiga and is the leader in his group