3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - The two-time winner of the tournament, Dick Jaspers, is out and Martin Horn has showed himself as one of the big favorites for the victory. The German sparkled in his match against Jaspers with a brilliant comeback: he closed a backlog of 20-1 and won the match 50-34 in 20 innings.
Just like Torbjörn Blomdahl did earlier this day against Filipos Kasidokostas, Martin Horn only needed twenty innings for the match, averaging 2.500. ,,I had a very bad start again, like in the match I played earlier this week in Belgium against Dick, but I always believed in my chances,'' said Horn after the match. ,,And it's fantastic to win against Dick Jaspers, who I still consider to be the best player in the world.''
The Dutchman seemed like Blomdahl in the previous match on his way to a quick win, when he led 20-1 after six innings. Martin Horn: ,,I knew that it was only possible to turn the match, if I could close the gap as soon as possible and then keep my focus on scoring points.''
That's how it turned out. Horn had a marvellous part in the game between the eighth and twelfth inning, in which he scored 29 points in five innings (4, 8, 3, 0 and 14).
He suddenly climbed up to a 40-29 lead, then gleaned some small runs and closed the match with four.
His next opponent is the Korean Kyung-Roul Kim. ,,I don't make any illusions'', Horn said. ,,I keep on fighting for what I'm worth, because I know, Kim is a great and famous opponent as well.''
For Dick Jaspers the tournament is over. He will play for the places five until eight. The winner of two previous editions (2009 and 2010) is off again before the final match. Last year he was kicked off by a superiour run of 21 of Filipos Kasidokostas, today Martin Horn, for years his teammate in the Netherlands, was a bridge too far.