ANKARA - The best match came from Arnim Kahofer, who later had to force a draw to survive the preliminary rounds at the European three cushion championships. Young Turk Burak Hashas was the victim, missing out on qualification. Robinson Morales, Emrullah Basegmez and Barry van Beers led the top three rankings after the qualifiers, 14 players achieved the maximum 4 match points, only Arnim Kahofer and European team champion Ronny Lindemann advanced to the last 32 at the Europeans in Ankara with 3 matchpoints. Tomorrow, Friday, starting 12.30 in the knock-outs, matches like Marco Zanetti against Ronny Lindemann, Martin Horn against Tom Löwe, Jean Paul de Bruijn against Jeffrey Jorissen, the two Dutchmen who formed a nation team at the World and the European Championship, Peter Ceulemans against Glenn Hofman and Dick Jaspers against Arnim Kahofer, just to name a few notable matches. The most known players who failed to qualify: Burak Hashas and Michael Nilsson.
The best match was by Arnim Kahofer in his match against Jarno Ahola: 40-9 in 15 innings (2.666). Robinson Morales demonstrated his excellent form in matches against Thomas Broux (40-16 in 20) and Tonny Carlsen (40-24 in 23).
Maxime Panaia shone against Jose Miguel Soares by 40-15 in 16, but missed qualification by losing against Ronny Lindemann 40-37. Gerhard Kostistansky was sublime in his match against Denizcan Akkoca (40-31 in 17, 2,352). Glenn Hofman went on after winning his second appearance against Cédric Melnytschenko (40-30 in 23) and Barry van Beers against Radovan Hajek 40-22 in 20.
Peter De Backer was very strong in his two matches against Tsokantas (40 in 25) and Michael Nilsson (40-19 in 27). Emrullah Basegmez was the best of the Turks in the preliminary rounds including his match against David Pennör (40-16 in 22). Thomas Andersen beat Tarik Yavuz by 1.538, Lukas Stamm overpowered Alfonso Legazpi by 40-30 in 25. Burak Hashas was one of the unlucky losers after his win against Jarno Ahola by 1.666. The Turk was beaten on average by an even better Kahofer.
The group winners and averages:
- Robinson Morales 4-1,860-11
- Emrullah Basegmez 4-1.739-7
- Barry van Beers 4-1.666-8
- Peter De Backer 4-1.538-7
- Thomas Andersen 4-1,538-10
- Glenn Hofman 4-1,403-9
- Gerhard Kostistansky 4-1,333-6
- Jeffrey Jorissen 4-1,290-9
- Lukas Stamm 4-1,194-7
- Turgay Orak 4-1,159-7
- Valentin Andaluz 4-1,159-7
- Furkan Senel 4-1,142-7
- Tom Löwe 4-1,081-7
- Adrien Tachoire 4-1,038-7
- Arnim Kahofer 3-1,454-7
- Ronny Lindemann 3-1,159-6
Round of 32 knock-outs Friday:
12.30:
Marco Zanetti-Ronny Lindemann
Rui Costa-Robinson Morales
Jean Paul de Bruijn-Jeffrey Jorissen
Berkay Karakurt-Lukas Stamm
15.00:
Tayfun Tasdemir-Furkan Senel
Roland Forthomme-Thomas Andersen
Tolgahan Kiraz-Peter De Backer
Martin Horn-Tom Löwe
17.30:
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Adrien Tachoire
Dion Nelin-Barry van Beers
Peter Ceulemans-Glenn Hofman
Eddy Merckx-Valentin Andaluz
20.00:
Jérémy Bury-Turgay Orak
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Gerhard Kostistandky
Ruben Legazpi-Emrullah Basegmez
Dick Jaspers-Arnim Kahofer
Ronny Lindemann, the team champion, as the nr. 16 to the knock-outs
Emrullah Basegmez, best Turk in the prerounds
Barry van Beers, the vice European team champion, one of 5 Dutch players in the main field