HO CHI MINH - The best Vietnamese will not shine in front of their own crowd at the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh. Quyet Chien Tran and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, who were on top of the podium last year, were eliminated in the first round of the main draw and will not return to the arena in the final weekend. Myung-Woo Cho, the Korean super talent, was the best of 32 players and puts the world top under pressure with his 2.500 overall average. Dick Jaspers, Myung-Woo Cho, Tayfun Tasdemir and Eddy Leppens remained unbeaten with 6 match points. The opening day was for most the day of the high runs: HaengJik Kim 18, Myung-Woo Cho 17, Frédérick Caudron 15 and 14, Erick Tellez 14.
The matches in the last sixteen, on Saturday:
1:00pm Vietnamese time:
Myung-Woo Cho-Birol Uymaz
Marco Zanetti-Sameh Sidhom
Semih Sayginer-Duc Anh Chien Nguyen
Eddy Leppens-Roland Forthomme
3:00pm
Tayfun Tasdemir-Erick Tellez
Dani Sanchez-Eddy Merckx
Frédéric Caudron-Murat Naci Coklu
Dick Jaspers-Dinh Nai Ngo.
The overviews of the eight groups of four on Friday, of which the best two move to the best sixteen in the knock-out.
Group A:
The world champion, Dick Jaspers, sets the tone from the first round, in which he conquers Dong-Koong Kang in the final sprint. The Korean still leads 36-26 when Jaspers attacks with 11 and a finish with three times 1: 40-38 in 19. Erick Tellez slightly earlier pushes his wheel over the line than Tonny Carlsen by a late 8-run: 40-39 to 32. Jaspers is much stronger than Tellez in the second session (40-7 in 16), in which Kang grabs a final chance against Carlsen. In the third session, Jaspers remains unbeaten (40-10 in 17 against Carlsen). Tellez shines with a run of 14 against Carlsen, taking a lead and win 40-27 in 14.
The ranking in Group A:
1 Jaspers 6-2,307-11
2 Tellez 4-1.403-14
3 Kang 2-2,019-10
4 Carlsen 0-1.029-6
Group B:
Frédéric Caudron's start is repaired by the Belgian in the next two laps, including runs of 15 and 14. Tran Than Tu Nguyen surprises Caudron with a 40-30 in 17 with 7 and 9 runs. Duc Anh Chien Nguyen beats Minh Cam Ma 40-36 in 25. Three players then compete for the best two places. Caudron makes it through a win over Ma (40-30 in 18) and Duc Anh Chien (40-32 in 20, after being down 23-12). Three players finish on 4 match points, Caudron and Duc Anh are the best on average.
The ranking in Group B:
1 Caudron 4-2.000-15
2 Duc Anh Chien Nguyen 4-1.696-9
3 Tran Than Tu Nguyen 4-1.617-9
4 Ma 0-1.397-6
Group C:
Myung Woo Cho, who went to the main tournament as the best runner-up, shows his high class on the first day. He shines in his three matches and is the best of all 32 on average: 2.666. Dinh Nai Ngo moves up with him to the best sixteen, thanks to the better average than Jae-Ho Cho. The numbers 2 and 3 end with 3 match points, because they draw against each other: 40-40 in 27. Myung Woo Cho plays his best match against Ngo in 12 innings: 40-35. It is a world-class match with averages of 3.333 for the winner and 2.916 for the loser.
The ranking in Group C:
1 Myung Woo Cho 6-2.666-17
2 Dinh Nai Ngo 3-2.090-9
3 Jae-Ho Cho 3-1,611-11
4 Anh Vu Duong 0-1.303-7
Group D:
Semih Sayginer and Sameh Sidhom (SS and SS) finish as the leaders with five match points, Can Capak and Dion Nelin are eliminated. Sayginer against Sidhom turns into a 40-40 in 24 innings. Dion Nelin ends up pointless down under, Can Capak only wins his match against Nelin 40-28 in 36. The first fight of the day, between the two Turks, is won by Sayginer 40-30 in 19 innings.
Ranking in Group D:
1 Sayginer 5-2.000-13
2 Sidhom 5-1.518-7
3 Capak 2-1.250-7
4 Nelin 0-1.080-11
Group E:
The unbeaten Tayfun Tasdemir knows in the final part who will be second in his group. Roland Forthomme, who is the better of Ahmet Alp in the final round, 40-37, takes his chance. The Belgian finishes at match 4 points as second, Jung-Han Heo and Ahmet Alp are eliminated. Tasdemir starts with a win over Alp (40-36 in 22), Forthomme over Heo 40-29 in 20. The match for the first place between Tasdemir and Forthomme is won by the Turk 40-30 in 22.
Ranking in Group E:
1 Tasdemir 6-1.967-9
2 Forthomme 4-1.617-10
3 Heo 2-1.535-12
4 Alp 0-1.492-12
Group F:
The group of death this day, in which the four players make each other's lives miserable. Dani Sánchez has the best start with a win over Quyet Chien Tran (40-27 in 25), Jérémy Bury beats Birol Uymaz 40-36 in 25. When Sánchez wins his second (40-20 against Bury in 13), he secures his placement. Uymaz and Tran play a draw (40-40 in 25), so that the tension remains until the end. Uymaz beats Sánchez 40-25 in 13 and suddenly is the most important candidate. Quyet Chien Tran doesn't have enough to beat Bury (40-34 in 21), because Uymaz has a better average.
Ranking in Group F:
1 Sanchez 4-2.058-9
2 Uymaz 3-1.841-10
3 Tran 3-1.507-8
4 Bury 2-1.593-10
Group G:
The last session has to decide on the number two that will accompany Marco Zanetti to the best sixteen. The Italian has already secured group win in his two games against HaengJik Kim 40-38 in 20) and Minh (40-37 in 13). The win over Kim in particular is spectacular: Kim leads 38-23, Zanetti goes to the finish with 2, 10 and 5. Murat Naci Coklu wins his third match (against Zanetti 40-21 in 23) and passes Duc Tran Minh (2.382 over three matches, the best in the group) on the ranking. HaengJik Kim, already eliminated after two losses, makes the best run of the day in his last match: 18.
Group Pool G:
1 Zanetti 4-1.803-10
2 Coklu 4-1.761-13
3 Minh 2-2.382-9
4 HJ Kim 2-1,965-18
Group H:
The two Belgians share the main prizes and left Barry van Beers and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen behind. Eddy Leppens, in an excellent form, remains unbeaten and defeats Merckx 40-26 in the first match thanks to a run of 15, leading him from 21-14 behind to 29-24. Leppens then also beats Van Beers (40-26 in 19) and Nguyen (40-20 in 21). Eddy Merckx secures his second place in his last match against Barry van Beers (40-36 in 23).
Ranking in Group H:
1 Leppens 6-1.904-15
2 Merckx 4-1.709-8
3 Van Beers 1-1.324-11
4 Nguyen 1-1.125-7.
