CARTAGENA – The world stage for juniors has once again presented two Kim boys on the podium of the World three-cushion championship in Cartagena, Spain. Two new Koreans, one only 15 years old, are competing for the world title in the under-22 field. The title holder, Seymen Ozbas from Turkey, has been warned. The level is high from the start, with matches occasionally approaching an average of 2. Seymen Ozbas and Ataberk Cerkez, two talented Turks, finished with 1.463. By far the most exciting group in the preliminary rounds was Group C with three big names. In the last evening session, two of the five Koreans disappeared from the tournament.
The two Koreans, Hyeon Woo Kim, one of the two Kims at this World Championship, and Jun Hyuk Son, faced the strong Spaniard and European junior champion Marcos Morales, also only 19. The Koreans first played each other: Kim beat Son 30-23 in 17. Hyeon Woo Kim defeated Morales 30-26 in 21 in his next match, securing himself the top position. The third match was important to do or die. Son and Morales tied in 27 innings. Son's average was higher than Morales': 1.204 to 1.166, eliminating the European champion.
The tournament continues with the knock-outs, in which three Koreans, two Turks, two Spaniards, and three South Americans are among those competing: one Argentine, one Mexican, and one Colombian.
The knock-out matches with the best 16 will be played at 12:00 and 14:00:
Jun Hyuk Son-Hyeon Woo Kim
Daniel Sainz Pardo-Do Hyeon Kim
Ubaldo Sanchez-Luis Pinto
Jose Martinez-Valentino Oliveto
Muhaned Khaled-Ataberk Cerkez
Luca Philipoom-Arturo Zotov
Tangui Duriez-Toni Garcia
Seymen Ozbas-Amir Ibraimov
Reigning champion Seymen Ozbas had a flawless start in Group A with wins against Khaled from Egypt and Turla from Italy. Arturo Zotov, the wildcard holder from Spain, was superior in his group against Amir Ibraimov and Ryusi Miyamoto with 30 in 35 and 30 in 34 innings. Germany's Ibraimov advanced to the knockouts with a win over Miyamoto 30-21 in 38.
Argentine Valentino Oliveto secured his ticket in Group D by defeating Luca Philipoom 30-25 in 32 and Nicolas Cermak 30-13 in 23. The second ticket went to Luca Philipoom, who defeated the Czech in his first match 30-22 in 25 innings. Thanks to that excellent start, the Dutchman finished with an average 0.964.
Luis Pinto, the Portuguese player, had trouble finishing against the Colombian Insignares, while the other Colombian, Jose Martinez, watched the end of the day from the sidelines. Pinto won 30-26, Martinez goes through as number 2.
Daniel Sainz Pardo took second place in the final match of Group F by defeating Korea's Jung 30-25 in 19 innings. The top spot had already been decided in favor of Ataberk Cerkez with two wins and 1.463.
Two of the three matches in Group G ended in a draw. The only winner was Do Hyeon Kim, the Korean who defeated his compatriot Gyu Seung Lee 30-28 in 22 and drew against Ubaldo Sanchez. The Mexican performed a minor miracle at the end of the group stage. He had to equalize with 3 against Lee and did so with a wonderful equalizer.
Group H, with three Europeans, ended with Toni Garcia as the winner with the maximum match points and 0.857. Tangui Duriez just reached an average of 1 and finished second, while Toon Bollansee, the only Belgian in the field, finished at the bottom with 0 points.
The final standings of the groups in the preliminary rounds (8 groups, two of the three players per group advancing to the knockouts with 16):
Group A:
1 Seymen Ozbas 4-1.463-7
2 Muhaned Khaled 2-0.769-6
3 Paolo Turla 0-0.460-4
Group B:
1 Arturo Zotov 4-0.869-5
2 Amir Ibraimov 2-0.708-4
3 Ryusi Miyamoto 0-0.534-4
Group C:
1 Hyeon Woo Kim 4-1.578-5
2 Jun Hyuk Son 1-1.204-4
3 Marcos Morales 1-1.166-7
Group D:
1 Valentino Oliveto 4-1.090-5
2 Luca Philipoom 2-0.964-4
3 Nicolas Cermak 0-0.729-6
Group E:
Luis Pinto 4-0.895-5
Jose Martinez 2-0.784-4
Mario Insignares 0-0.567-4
Group F:
1 Ataberk Cerkez 4-1.463-6
2 Daniel Sainz Pardo 2-1.282-10
3 Sang Uk Jung 0-0.900-5
Group G:
1 Do Hyeon Kim 3-1.016-6
2 Ubaldo Sanchez 2-0.909-5
3 Gyu Seung Lee 1-1.137-5
Group H:
1 Toni Garcia 4-0.857-6
2 Tangui Duriez 2-1.000-8
3 Toon Bollansee 0-0.672-5
The whole field in the Junior championship
The European champion Seymen Ozbas is out after losing to two Koreans