BLANKENBERGE -
One Vietnamese finalist of the recent Ho Chi Minh World Cup had a brilliant finish; another Vietnamese top player was eliminated. Quyet Chien Tran, winner in his own country, was kept out of the main draw of Blankenberge by Spaniard David Zapata. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen had a sensational finish in both of his matches. The stuntman ran a 10 when his match against Kobayashi was at 30-30, then he had a deficit of 39-30 against Jäschke but he ran a 6 and then equalized with 4: 40-40 in 32. Semih Sayginer, also a hair away from being eliminated, found a way to stay in the tournament, with a run of 7 in his last inning.
The battle for the three runner-up spots was very exciting in the final round. Tonny Carlsen, Birol Uymaz and Dustin Jäschke had three match points and will come back tomorrow for the first round of the main draw. It's the first time the 26-year old Jäschke finds himself in the last 32 of a World Cup. 25-year old Juan David Zapata from San Javier, who beat Tran, makes a second appearance, following Hurghada last year. Seagulls over the North Sea outside Blankenberge heard their shouts of joy. ,,I am so happy with this, it feels fantastic.''
The last act of heroism from Semih Sayginer ended a great day in the Belgian casino. Tonny Carlsen had finished the match between the two seasoned players at 40-33. Semih still had the equalizer, knowing that he needed to make seven to stay in the event. ,,The break did not go as well as it could have'', he later said. ,,I felt the pressure and the tension, under these circumstances, every point is a difficult point.'' His sigh of relief was audible, as he was congratulated by Dani Sanchez moments later, just outside the arena. ,,What a hard fight Dani..., but I could make it.'' The successful equalizer made him group winner, and Tonny Carlsen was one of the runners-up to advance. The Dane was uncertain at first, but people soon convinced him that he had made the last 32. ,,I am happy that I could show, first in Vietnam and now here, that I have made progress in my game this year.''
Quyet Chien Tran was unable to continue where he left off, after the greatest victory in his career in the Ho Chi Minh World Cup. His two opponents, Zapata and Kokkoris, started off with a draw. Then Zapata beat Tran (40-32 in 21) and Tran win over Kokkoris (40-30 in 18) was not good enough to advance, in spite of his fine 1.846 average. He had been in a dangerous group, because Zapata ended on 1.538 and kokkoris on 1.428.
The Vietnamese contingent had eight names in the final round of qualification, and five of them made it to the main draw. The most spectacular performance was that of Minh Cam Ma, who ran 18 in his penultimate inning against Tsokantas. Ronny Brants was the last of the Belgians to go out: he did beat Tsokantas 40-32 in 22 but lost to Ma, 40-28 in 33.
Myung-Woo Cho and Birol Uymaz were locking horns in an interesting battle, and it ended in a draw with Uymaz making the last two in the equalizer. Tayfun Tasdemir was one of the best winners, with victories over Martin Horn (40-25 in 24) and Duc Anh Chien Nguyen (40-14 in 15). Horn was last in this flight: two losses and 1.127. Barry van Beers found his Waterloo in the tough group with Carlsen and Sayginer, losing 40-24 in 24 and 40-22 in 22. An average of 1 will not get you anywhere these days.
The day ranking for Thursday:
1 Dong-Koong Kang 4-2.105-13
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 4-2.105-10
3 Anh Vu Duong 4-1.818-6
4 Hyung-Kon Kim 4-1.739-10
5 Trung Hau Nguyen 4-1.666-6
6 Dinh Nai Ngo 4-1.538-6
7 Minh Cam Ma 4-1.509-18
8 Can Capak 4-1.269-10
9 Semih Sayginer 3-1.777-8
10 David Zapata 3-1.538-8
11 Myung-Woo Cho 3-1.509-9
12 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 3-1.454-10.
Kurt Ceulemans performed the draw fort he main tournament, starting on Friday at 12.00. To name a few: Caudron meets Forthomme, Zanetti plays Sayginer, Haeng Jik Kim meets Hyung Kon Kim, Jaspers plays Carlsen, Jae-Ho Cho meets Myung-Woo Cho and Merckx plays Nguyen Quoc.
The matches:
12.00:
Caudron-Forthomme
Dong-Koong Kang-Zapata
Bury-Leppens
Zanetti-Sayginer
14.00:
Choi-Jäschke
Blomdahl-Minh Cam Ma
Polychronopoulos-Uymaz
HJ Kim-HK Kim
16.00:
Jaspers-Carlsen
Sidhom-Capak
Duong-Heo
Jae-Ho Cho-Myung-Woo Cho
18.00:
Sánchez-Do Nguyen
Tasdemir-El Messery
Coklu-Ngo
Merckx-Nguyen Quoc.
Jäschke and Nguyen: smiling faces
Minh Cam Ma ran 18
Zapata eliminated a World Cup winner: Q.C. Tran
Tasdemir: a convincing group win