3-Cushion
SEOUL - The Belgians Roland Forthomme and Eddy Merckx have claimed a main role on the first day of the Survival Masters in Seoul. Six of the eight groups in the first part of the preliminaries were played on that starting day. Roland Forthomme was the best in average (2,769), Eddy Merckx was the best in score (103 points). The other four group winners were Dae-Hyun Jang, one of the qualification players, Jae-Ho Cho, Hyung-Mook Lim, with a wildcard in the tournament and Sung-Won Choi with another score over 100.
The other two groups of four, with among others Dick Jaspers, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Tayfun Tasdemir, Jérémy Bury and Dion Nelin, will show up on the second day in two sessions at 12.00 and 13.30 Korean time. Two number two on the first day, Dani Sánchez and Sameh Sidhom, will join the six first group winners in the final round with 16.
The overview of the six groups on the opening day:
Group A:
Three of four players in this group end up in a fascinating showdown. Dae-Hyun Jang sprints to first place in the last inning, 66 points ahead of Semih Sayginer and Nikos Polychronopoulos, who share second place with 62. In the shootout, the Greek misses the break shot and Sayginer only needs one point. Myung-Woo Cho doesn't find his feared rhythm and ends up as the last. Jang, one of the eight qualifiers, has the best start with 61 points before the break. Shortly before the finish, the top three is matching, 63-63-63. The decision falls in the last inning.
The ranking in Group A:
1 Dae-Hyun Jang 66-1,812-7
2 Semih Sayginer 62-1,750-7
3 Nikos Polychronopoulos 62-1,750-6
4 Myung-Woo Cho 50-1,562-5
Group B:
Jae-Ho Cho's super run, with 17 just after the break, makes him unreachable for his three competitors. Therefore, the Korean runs to an intermediate score of 108, which he easily defends towards the end. Dani Sánchez is two points ahead of Jung-Han Heo thanks to a final run of four. Three players finish over two average, Hui-Dung Kim is far behind with 0 points and 0,416.
The ranking in Group B:
1 Jae-Ho Cho 90-2,266-17
2 Dani Sánchez 76-2,200-6
3 Jung-Han Heo 74-2,133-11
4 Hui-Dong Kim 0-0,416-2
Group C:
The superior role is for Eddy Merckx, who scores with regularity: 4 and 5 before and 8 after the break as the best runs. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen takes second place, first by his six just before the break and finally in a neck-and-neck race with Lütfi Cenet in the final innings. Merckx, with his huge confidence, finishes over 100 in his total score. Sung-Ha Yoon, the Korean outsider in the group, cannot play a significant role.
The ranking in Group C:
1 Eddy Merckx 103-1,941-8
2 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 59-1,294-6
3 Lütfi Cenet 55-1,235-5
4 Sung-Ha Yoon 23-0,764-4
Group D:
Roland Forthomme shows his muscles and his eager to win around the break in his uphill match with a run of six just before the stop and 14 in the second after the break. He gets back to close the small gap to HaengJik Kim to take a lead and truly doinates his group. The Korean has a slightly better finish than Hyun-Suk Kim and therefore ends with a four point lead as number two. Also in this group: three players on two average and more. The modest score of Marco Zanetti is striking.
The ranking in Group D:
1 Roland Forthomme 96-2,769-14
2 HaengJik Kim 60-2,076-7
3 Hyun-Suk Kim 56-2,000-6
4 Marco Zanetti 28-1,461-5
Group E:
Hyung-Mook Lim, the wildcard player of the Korean federation, rewards with a leading place in the first group phase. Sameh Sidhom and Murat Naci Coklu are left behind. The outcome is already apparent before the break with a run of ten for Lim and a big lead: 60 against 32, 26 and 0 for the pursuers. Sidhom forces second place with two times four, however followed by six misses after the break. Murat Naci Coklu does not utilize the opportunities to compete with the leaders.
The ranking in Group E:
1 Hyung-Mook Lim 99-1,666-10
2 Sameh Sidhom 75-1,333-9
3 Murat Naci Coklu 39-0,833-5
4 Chang-Hoon Seo 27-0,666-4
Group F:
Korean former world champion Sung-Won Choi leads from start to finish and leaves two pursuers in the first part well behind. Quyet Chien Tran, the other world class player in the group, has a bad start and is out for the first place in the last innings. Therese Klompenhouwer, after a poor start, finally has an excellent finish and finishes second in the shadow of the group winner. The Dutch lady is in danger when she is under ten just before the break, but she recovers nicely once she is used to the Survival system. The run of 5 in the second last inning brings her to a wonderful runner-up position.
The ranking in Group F:
1 Sung-Won Choi 101-2.062-11
2 Therese Klompenhouwer 53-1.312-6
3 Quyet Chien Tran 45-1.187-7
4 Min Seok Kim 41-1.125-7.
Therese Klompenhouwer, excellent finish and second in group
Dae-Hyun Jang, a first group winner from the qualifications.
Roland Forthomme, the highest average of day one.
Hyung-Mook Lim rewarded his federation for the wildcard: first in his group