LAUSANNE - The stately and intimate billiard arena in the casino is the stage for the Lausanne Billard Masters for the seventh time. The first day of pre-competitions has already posted surprising results on the score boards in the first sessions: Semih Sayginer left Dani Sánchez far behind with a comfortable victory (40-17 in 19 innings), Martin Horn was slightly better at the finish than Jae-Ho Cho (40-39 in 24) and Myung-Woo Cho worsened Eddy Merckx's flawless start (40-38 in 19), after the Belgian led 26-6 in ten with a run of 14. Dick Jaspers and Marco Zanetti had a walk-over start against Michel Boulaz and Maxime Panaia and Therese Klompenhouwer made her debut against Tayfun Tasdemir with a 40-23 loss in 31.
Martin Horn, in the last night session, already secured his place in the knock-outs. Marco Zanetti needs a battle with two other contenders, Myung Woo Cho and Eddy Merckx. The German Horn with two wins is out of reach for the two first positions in Group A. He also won his second encounter over Dick Jaspers (40-27 in 21), in which he took the initiative after the stop and was no longer endangered after 36-24. Marco Zanetti was the better of Myung Woo Cho to take his second victory in Group B, where Eddy Merckx beat Panaia 40-26 in 24.
Dick Jaspers and Jae-Ho Cho still have to face each other in Group A for the second position to move up to the best eight. Swiss Michel Boulaz plays no role in this foursome. The losses, 40-6 in 21 against Jaspers and 40-5 in 15 against Cho, must have given the wildcard player a feeling that he was as an amateur cyclist in the Tour of Swiss.
The ranking in Group A after two rounds:
1 Martin Horn 4-1,777-11
2 Jae-Ho Cho 2-2,078-11
3 Dick Jaspers 2-1,595-10
4 Michel Boulaz 0-0,323-2
Matches for Saturday:
12.15: Jaspers-Jae-Ho Cho and Horn-Boulaz
Marco Zanetti had a slightly lesser start than Myung-Woo Cho (12-8 and 17-13 down), but then started his attack and ran to the win at 40-33 in 30 innings. Eddy Merckx had to catch up ten points against Panaia (20-10) and outplayed his opponent in a much better end rush: 40-26 in 24. Three players meet up for two places on Saturday: Merckx, Zanetti and Myung-Woo Cho.
The ranking after two rounds:
1 Marco Zanetti 4-1,739-13
2 Eddy Merckx 2-1,813-14
3 Myung-Woo Cho 2-1.489-6
4 Maxime Panaia 0-0.956-8
Matches for Saturday:
14.30: Zanetti-Merckx and Myung-Woo Cho-Panaia
The first knocks in Group C were dealt by the two Turks: Semih Sayginer with a win over Dani Sánchez (40-17 in 19) and Tayfun Tasdemir over Therese Klompenhouwer (40-23 in 31). The second session in this group with Tasdemir-Sánchez and Sayginer-Klompenhouwer is on Saturday at 10.00. Therese missed the start and hopes for better times. ''I didn't feel the tables and the game didn't run well,'' she apologized.
The ranking in Group C after one round:
1 Semih Sayginer 2-2,105-8
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 2-1,290-7
3 Dani Sánchez 0-0,944-4
4 Therese Klompenhouwer 0-0,766-
Matches for Saturday:
10 am:
Tasdemir-Sánchez and Sayginer-Klompenhouwer
16.45: Tasdemir-Sayginer and Sánchez-Klompenhouwer
The field of 12 players before the start in the Lausanne Billard Masters
Semih Sayginer, started with a victory over Dani Sánchez
Tayfun Tasdemir, two matches to go after a win over Therese Klompenhouwer
Jae-Ho Cho launched by a loss to Martin Horn, but is still in the race with a decisive match against Dick Jaspers