3-Cushion
SEOUL - The cycle of PBA tournaments in Korea will start tomorrow, Monday, July 6, with the first tournament in Seoul. The kick-off of the first individual events starts for both men and women with 128 participants. The tournament is named after the sponsor, SK Rent-a-car and is the first of six tournaments in the cycle 2020-2021, which ends with the final tournament in March 2021. The European participation comes mainly from David Martinez, the Spanish final winner of the first cycle, Frédéric Caudron, Javier Palazón and Eddy Leppens. The Greek Filippos Kasidokostas, who was one of the tournament winners last year, had to cancel due to health problems. The format remains unchanged: two preliminary rounds according to Survival rules, from the round with 32 players according to knockout. The venue is the Grand Walker hill hotel in Seoul from July 6-10.
David Martinez and the other non-Koreans quarantined for two weeks after arriving in Seoul. The Spaniard looks back on two difficult weeks: ''We were not allowed to meet anyone and had to stay in the room on our own. The food was served in front of the hotel room three times a day: at 8.00, 12.00 and 18.00. I was happy to be able to move freely after two long weeks. In those few days before the tournament, I try to get my feelings by training sessions.''
Kozoom/FB: The start of the new PBA season, does that mean a 0-point start for you as last year's winner?
David Martinez: Yes, a fresh start, only last year's position counts for this first event.
Kozoom/FB: Will the tournament be played without audience?
David Martinez: We play without an audience because of Corona.
Kozoom/FB: How did you deal with the hours and days in lockdown in these two weeks?
David Martinez: I brought my laptop with me to play video games, watched billiard matches on Youtube, movies and series in Netflix and did personal trainings every day to remain in a good shape and condition.
Kozoom/FB: Are there many new Koreans at the start of this first tournament?
David Martinez: The only one I know is Kim Bong Chul, the player who was third at the World Cup in Seoul in 2018.
Kozoom/FB: You are also playing in the new Korean team competition of PBA, when will it start?
David Martinez: The first tournament starts on August 20.
Kozoom/FB: Are the system and format the same?
David Martinez: The only thing that has changed is the shotclock: now we have 35 seconds in all rounds, survival and knockout.
Kozoom/FB: Where did you train in the days after the lockdown on the way to the tournament start?
David Martinez: In the Kimchi club and in a club near the Walker Hill hotel where we play the tournament.
Turkish player Savas Bulut, one of the three Turkish participants, has processed the lockdown well. ''These two weeks passed very quickly: I read some books, watched movies and amused myself in a luxurious room. The food was perfect, the drinks were excellent.'' Smoking was absolutely prohibited? ''Yes, that's right, but I stopped smoking twenty years ago, so no problem for me."
Besides Filippos Kasidokostas, the non Koreans not at the start are Robinson Morales (Colombia), Roberto Rojas (Mexico), Jean Paul de Bruijn and Glenn Hofman (Netherlands), Pierre Soumagne (France), Tonny Carlsen and Allan Schröder (Denmark).
The ladies also start with 128 players: 127 of whom come from Korea. The only non-Korean is Spanish Amai Najjari, Caudron's partner. The favourites include Mi-rae Lee and Bo-ra Kim.
The tournament starts for the men on Monday (July 6) at 11.00 Korean time (4 a.m. Western Europe).
The schedule for Europeans (Korean time):
14.30: Savas Bulut with Jun-young Park, Jun-ho Choi and Dong-sun Choi
Javier Palazón with Dong-jun Park, Tae-jun Oh and Dong-woo Han
16.45: Kostas Papakonstantinou in a group with Myoung-soo Hahm, Dae-kwon Shin and Byeong-cha Noh
Carlos Anguita with Deuk-hee Hwang, Won-jun Choi and Kun-pyo Jung
Eddy Leppens with Kun-hyung Park, Hae-yong Kim and Im-gwon Kim
Birol Uymaz with Sang-dae Lee, Sang-young Lee and Min-soo Goo
Adnan Yüksel with Bong-chil Kim, Dong-ku Kang and Sam-il Seo
22.00: Frédéric Caudron with Ja-bok Ku, Byung-seob Kim and Sang-chun Chu
David Zapata with Ra-hee Kim, Ji-hoon Sun and Jung-soo Lee.
The format:
With 128 players and in the round afterwards with 64 players: Survival system.
Twice 45 minutes with a break shot determined by draw. Before the start of each round, all players receive 50 points.
Two players from each group qualify for the next round.
After two rounds of Survival, the 32-players tournament continues according to knock-out in set system. First phase to five sets won (to 15 points, eventual fifth and last set to 11). Final rounds to seven sets won. Bank shot caroms count double.
Price schedule:
Winner 100,000,000 Korean won ($ 85,000).
Losing finalist: 34,000,000 won
Semi-final losers: 10,000,000
Winners first preround: 1,000.000.
Matches can be followed on PBA Youtube channel
Frédéric Caudron, Dong-Kong Kang and the ladies favourite player for PBA event