ANTALYA - The Greek Kostas Papakonstantinou celebrated his come-back with the best performance of the day (four match points, 1.935 average). The ranking showed another field with 24 players from many different countries.
Before the injection of quality on the last day to enter the main event, there were lots of strange performances, there was tension again and wonderful matches.
The king of the miscue, the Turk Volkan Cimentepe, was treated to so many presents by French player Pierre Soumagne, that he could equalize from the break-off after many strange misses. The draw was enough for the Turk to advance and kept Soumagne out of next round.
Dutchman Glenn Hofmann made it even more colorful and peculiar. The former European junior champion, who defeated Dick Jaspers in a Grand Prix last weekend, started the tournament with a stunning match and 2.500 average. The cracker against Ronny Lindemann (2.500 as well in his first game) turned into a slapstick. The starplayer in the first session, was dramatically bad in his second and lost with 0.500.
Another Dutchman, Jean Paul de Bruijn, also could not show up with the level in his first (30 in 9 innings). He saved his or tournament, however, in the endrush with a 30-29 victory. The Dutch crowd in the stands could celebrate another win, half an hour later, when Dave Christiani defeated Francis Forton 30-25.
Kostas Papakonstantinou, from the country where a shipping magnate seems to rescue the future of Greek billiards, was the starplayer of the day. With two wins against Ibrahim Muslu and Stepan Kohout in 17 and 14 innings, the Greek finished closed with almost two average. He leads the day rank before Durk Hee Hwang, Jean Paul de Bruijn, Hyung Bum Hwang and Jose-Maria Mas.
The elimination of the Korean Jung Han Heo was one of the big surprises of the day. He flaunted with a strong start against the other Korean in the flight, Jae Guen Kim, but then lost control in his duel with the Turk Mahmut Ozdemir.
The Belgian Peter Ceulemans was outkicked in a poor second match, in which he could not match with the young Spaniard Juan David Zapata (30-15 in 17 innings). The Belgians also lost another player: Francis Forton was outplayed by Dave Christiani thanks to a better endshot.
Javier Teran was the killer for Therese Klompenhouwer in a moderate match. Luis Aveiga, in his typical South American style (and 1.428 average) was the second Ecuadorian who may return tomorrow.
The ranking of 24 players on top had a mixed composition: six Turks, three Spaniards, three Koreans, two Dutch, two Germans, two Ecuadorians, a Greek, a Dane, a Swede, a Portuguese, a Frenchman and an Austrian.
The top ten on Wednesday:
1 Kostas Papakonstantinou (Gr)
2 Durk Hee Hwang (Kor)
3 Jean Paul de Bruijn (Ned)
4 Hyung Bum Hwang (Kor)
5 Jose Maria Mas (Sp)
6 Ronny Lindemann (Ger)
7 Dave Christiani (Ned)
8 Luis Aveiga (ECU)
9 Mahmut Ozdemir (Tur)
10 Javier Palazón (Spa).
The 12 flights on Thursday (with most important players):
Flight A: Lütfi Cenet and Murat Tüzül
Flight B: Javier Palazón, Martin Horn, Michael Nilsson
Flight C: Adnan Yüksel, Manuel Rui Costa
Flight D: Luis Aveiga, Choong Bok Lee
Flight E: Christian Rudolph, Dave Christiani, Raimond Burgman
Flight F: Ronny Lindemann, Sameh Sidhom
Flight G: Nikos Polychronopoulos, Juan David Zapata
Flight H: Dong Kang Koong, Jérôme Barbeillon, Jose Maria Mas
Flight I: Arnim Kahofer, Eddy Leppens
Flight J: Jean Paul de Bruijn, Jef Philipoom
Flight K: Savas Bulut, Durk Hee Hwang
Flight L: Roland Forthomme, Kostas Papakonstantinou.