ANKARA - The best scores on average were for Eddy Merckx playing 2,162 and Jérémy Bury (2,000) when the summary was done at the end of Thursday evening. The World three cushion championship enters the knockouts phase on Friday with 32 players remaining from the initial 48 field. All the top favorites survived the preliminaries, although Tayfun Tasdemir, the reigning champion, ended the preliminaries with a loss against Robinson Morales, the Colombian who was eliminated. Mexican Javier Vera was an outsider among the group winners, Dick Jaspers had to make up for a weak start in his second match, Jérémy Bury was the tormentor for Pedro Piedrabuena (40-3 in 13 innings and Eddy Merckx used almost the same axe for Portuguese routine player Rui Costa (40-5 in 15). More or less surprising group winners were Gerhard Kostistanski (ahead of Haeng Jik Kim), Phuong Vinh Bao (ahead of Polychronopoulos) and Michael Nilsson a stunning number 1 in the group with Jun Tae Kim and Hyung Kon Kim. The last kick came from Luis Martinez, the Colombian who first almost knocked Roland Forthomme, but finally knocked Ruben Legazpi out of the tournament in the closing stages.
The matches for the knock-outs with the best 32 (Friday, Turkish time):
12.00:
Merckx-Umeda
Jaspers-Diaz
Horn-B. Karakurt
Tasdemir-Blomdahl
14.30:
Cha-Polychronopoulos
Zanetti-Cataño
Vera-O. Karakurt
Tran-Sciacca
17.00:
Nilsson-Patino
JT Kim-L Martinez
MW Cho-JF Martinez
Forthomme-Sidhom
19.30:
Ahn-Bao
Kostistansky-Maréchal
Heo-HJ Kim
Bury-Piedrabuena
The highest players in average in the preliminary rounds:
- Eddy Merckx 2,162
- Jérémy Bury 2,000
- Michael Nilsson 1,702
- Quyet Chien Tran 1,702
- Myung Woo Cho 1,699
- Marco Zanetti 1,666
- Javier Vera 1,565
- Haeng Jik Kim 1,558
- Sameh Sidhom 1,509.
The World championship in Ankara after the preliminary rounds had to say goodbye among others to:
Ruben Legazpi, Robinson Morales, Jean Paul de Bruijn, Jacob Sörensen, Rui Costa, Kostas Kokkoris, Tolgahan Kiraz, Takao Miyishita, Radovan Hajek and Hyung Kon Kim.
The final standings of the preliminary rounds:
Group A:
Javier Vera 2-1,565-13
Tayfun Tasdemir 2-1.327-6
Robinson Morales 2-1,000-9
Group B:
Dick Jaspers 2-1,387-7
Ji Hun Ahn 2-1,260-7
Jean Paul de Bruijn 2-1,114-7
Group C:
Marco Zanetti 4-1,666-10
Hugo Patino 2-1.063-6
Mohamed Abdin 0-0.885-7
Group D:
Torbjörn Blomdahl 4-1,428-7
Ryuuji Umeda 2-0.895-6
Fabi Abousaleh 0-0.605-6
Group E:
Myung Woo Cho 4-1,600-7
Huberney Cataño 2-1,177-8
Behzat Cetin 0-0.896-4
Group F:
Eddy Merckx 4-2,162-11
Gwendal Maréchal 2-1,400-8
Rui Costa 0-0.770-10
Group G:
Sameh Sidhom 3-1,509-9
Jhon Fredy Martinez 2-12.50-11
Jacob Sörensen 1-1.333-5
Group H:
Gerhard Kostistanski 4-1,230-7
Haeng Jik Kim 2-1,558-6
Kostas Kokkoris 0-0.850-5
Group I:
Quyet Chien Tran 4-1,702-5
Omer Karakurt 2-1,461-6
Tolgahan Kiraz 0-1,044-4
Group J:
Jérémy Bury 4-2,000-8
Pedro Piedrabuena 2-1,000-5
Carlos Villegas 0-1.157-6
Group K:
Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1,454-8
Nikos Polychronopoulos 2-1,446-8
Radovan Hajek 0-0.980-5
Group L:
Jung Han Heo 2-1,431-11
Berkay Karakurt 2-1,288-8
Takao Miyashita 2-1,100-7
Group M:
Michael Nilsson 4-1,702-6
Jun Tae Kim 2-1,545-9
Hyung Kon Kim 0-0.981-11
Group N:
Martin Horn 4-1,403-6
Emilio Sciacca 2-1,122-7
Mashhour Abu Tayeh
Group O:
Luis Martinez 2-1,448-6
Roland Forthomme 2-1,431-10
Ruben Legazpi 2-1,211-8
Group P:
Myeong Jong Cha 3-1,481-7
Henry Diaz 3-1,454-11
Dion Nelin 0-1,244-4