SCHILTIGHEIM – A spectacle rarely seen in the arena of the Agipi Masters: Martin Horn in the latter stages of a match, missing shots he could normally make blindfolded. And Jérémy Bury, the gifted technician who, when push comes to shove, so often shows his pitbull-qualities, now completely off his rocker and missing the simplest shots.
That is what pressure, tension and emotion can do to players of the highest level, was once again on display in the Agipi hall.
Jérémy Bury, who ended up winning the festival of mistakes against Horn (50-44 in 34), looked back at it in disbelief. ,,Neither of us could finish, under the extreme pressure’’, he said, as he had refound his calm.
,,You could sense it from the audience as well, we sa wit in each other, we missed the simplest shots. A factor was, that the table did change towards the end, but most of all, we were to blame for that horrific final stretch.’’
With a closing run of 4, and a run of 10 in the 17th inning, the Frenchman saved his tournament, and kept the tension in the group alive.
With Lütfi Cenet on the other table beating Dion Nelin (50-32 in 22), Martin Horn could have been qualified already, together with the Turk. Jérémy Bury had both their fates in his hand.
,,We all felt that towards the end.’’ The score indicated it too: Bury was leading 40-30 after 22. He then missed 7 times in the next 12 innings. Martin Horn produced 5 open innings, and made 10 points in his eleven chances, not counting his run of 4 in the equalizer.
Horn disappeared seconds after the match, obviously disappointed about his dismal performance.
The upshot is, that he must beat Eddy Merckx in his last match, or go home.
Lütfi Cenet with 5 points out of 3 matches is still no lock, because Bury can end on 6 points if he beats Cenet). In that case, Cenet and Horn (if he beats Merckx) both end on 5 points.
The boffins have come up with yet another scenario: Eddy Merckx is not quite out of it yet. The Belgian would have to beat Martin Horn, Jérémy Bury must lose to Cenet and Merckx must end on a higher average than the Frenchman.
Cenet has the brightest outlook. The Turkish group leader again made a strong impression against Nelin: he produced runs of 9,7 and 6 in the first six innings, and finished off with a little stretch of 18 points in 5 innings, before he closed proceedings in the 22nd inning.
The last matches in these groups will be played tomorrow (Sunday) on 14.00.
Horn-Merckx and Bury-Cenet.