GOYANG - At the end, everything was all right for Turkish billiard player Murat Naci Coklu. While the debut year in the PBA, the Korean pro league, was disappointing for Coklu, the ending had a golden tinge. This Sunday, Coklu won the last regular PBA tournament, the Crown Hatai, with a top prize of 72,000 euros. A fortnight ago, he also triumphed in the team competition with his team HanaCard. Among others, Coklu did so together with Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, the Vietnamese against whom he won the final of the individual tournament 4-2 in sets on Sunday.
Both Murat Naci Coklu and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen qualified for the final of the PBA season, the tournament known as the final gala and World Championship of the Korean league. The double was exuberantly celebrated by Coklu in the PBA's playing arena. The Turkish star player thanked everything and everyone within the PBA, his teammates, the sponsors and fans. But most of all his wife Emel, who had heartily cheered in the stands and was in tears for minutes after the victory. ''I played badly in my first year in the PBA,'' Coklu confessed honestly. ’’In the eight tournaments, I did not perform well. This last tournament and the team league final make up for everything. I am so happy about it that I will definitely not be able to sleep tonight.''
Murat (Naci to his friends) started the final against Nguyen with two lost sets (15-12 and 15-7), but then seized the initiative and won four sets in a row with minimal margins: 15-10, 15-11, 15-11 and 15-14. Coklu recorded 1.837 average, Nguyen 1.810, proving that the final was not only exciting, but certainly high-level. It was an exciting tournament anyway for the Turkish winner, who won 4-3 against Hyung-bum Hwang in the semi-finals, 3-2 against his compatriot Lütfi Cenet in the quarter-finals and against Jong-won Kim, Min-soo Goo, Sung-kyun Lim (with penalties) and Im-gwon Kim in the earlier rounds.
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen won in the semi-finals against Dinh Nai Ngo in a very tough match, the other Vietnamese still in contention, 4-3. In the quarter-finals Nguyen beat Eddy Leppens and further Jung-ju Shin and Birol Uymaz, among others.
Semih Sayginer was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Dinh Nai Ngo 3-0. The last of the top Spanish players in the PBA, Javier Palazón, David Zapata and Antonio Montes did not progress beyond the round of 64 this time.Javier Palazón remains the leader in the season rankings ahead of Jea-ho Cho, Semih Sayginer, David Martinez and Sun-won Choi. Murat Naci Coklu climbed to eighth position after his victory, just ahead of Birol Uymaz, Eddy Leppens and Lütfi Cenet. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen is ranked number 13.
Well-known players who did not make it to the prestigious final tournament include Dani Sánchez (No 66), Ivan Mayor (66), Savas Bulut (64), Can Capak (59), Adnan Yüksel (49) and Chong Bok Lee (131).
Murat Naci Coklu with the trophy
Murat Naci celebrating the victory, cheered by his wife Emel
The lauphing runner-up Nguyen Quoc Nguyen