3-Cushion
HALLE-ZOERSEL - How many times did they meet each other on the billiard table in the last ten years: Therese Klompenhouwer, the world champion, and Marianne Mortensen, the 53-year-old Danish player without a striking honour role. Yen times? And in all these matches, Therese Klompenhouwer won, until the one tonight, this Saturday evening at the ladies World championships in Halle-Zoersel. The Dutch title defender played far below her normal level, Marianne Mortensen rose above herself and won 30-26 in 34 innings. The sensation of the day.
Therese's dream to take a third world title in a row turned into a nightmare. Short response from her side: ,,It was not good.'' Then, the big silence...
Marianne Mortensen was so happy with her win. ,,My first time I won against Therese," said the Danish from Aarhus, who, together with her husband, takes care of ten children between 0 and 6 every day.
Who are the remaining title candidates now?
Orie Hida, 41-year-old Japanese with three world titles to her name. Mi Rae Lee, the young Korean, who finished second last year. And Gülsen Degener, with no big title to her name, but in her best form in the quarter-final match against the other Korean, Shin Young Lee.
The semi finals for tomorrow, Sunday:
11.00: Marianne Mortensen-Mi Rae Lee
13.00: Gülsen Degener-Orie Hida
Two winners played over one average in the four quarter finals. Marianne Mortensen played for herself a historic match against Klompenhouwer in 34 innings, only Mi Rae Lee couldn't show her talents. Even more nizarre was that Namiko Hayashi, her Japanese opponent, seemed to have totally lost her way. For a quarter-finals at a World championships, 61 innings for 25 caroms is obviously very poor.
The experts now expect Orie Hida as the big contender, because Mi Rae Lee is not in great form, Marianne Mortensen will be pleased with her place on the podium and Gülsen Degener needs to play the tournament of her life to win the title. Still, she believes in her chances after having showed her joy in front of the cameras: ,,I want the title now'', she said confidently.
For Klompenhouwer rested a huge disappointment. Nobody expected a loss against Mortensen, it was almost unimaginable, however the Danish player obviously has improved in one year. The Dutch said before the World championship: ,,I have to be strong and sharp, because competition is getting stronger every year.'' Two days in this WC could not show that at all. The level of the qualifications was even lower than in previous years. Therese herself played over one with 1.086, compared to last year 1.293.
Three players only played over 0.700: except Klompenhouwer only Orie Hida with 0.903 and Shin Young Lee with 0.728. Mi Rae Lee remained behind her last year's level 0.781 that brought her in the final in 2016.
What was the reason? The tables, the atmosphere? No, not at all. But still, also look at the high runs: last year 9, 8 and 7. This year in the preliminary rounds: 7, 6 and 5.
Five of the eight quarter finalists finished between 0.584 and 0.646. Therese Klompenhouwer showed a promising uphill level: 24 innings in her first, fifteen in her last match, the best match of twelve matches in the preliminaries (1.666).
Was the World championship on its way to a new start in the knock-out stage? It looked like, because in three of the four matches, the level was pretty good and attractive, especially with Orie Hida and Gülsen Degener at the table. Those two experienced players meet up in the semi-finals tomorrow.
The rankings after the premieres of the best eight players:
1 Therese Klompenhouwer 6-1.086-7
2 Orie Hida 6-0.903-6
3 Shin Young Lee 6-0.728-6
4 Namiko Hayashi 4-0.646-5
5 Mi Rae Lee 4-0.644-6
6 Gülsen Degener 4-0.632-4
7 Jaimie Buelens 4-0.588-4
8 Marianne Mortensen 4-0.584-4.
Orie Hida, the three fold world champion, a huge contender for a new title
Gülsen Degener: yes, I want this title now
Young Korean Mi Rae Lee, poor quarter final, but still in the race for the title