BORDEAUX - Three, maybe four minutes Pierre Soumagne could have had the illusion that he would continue his World championship and give it even more glory. The young Frenchman, a substitute in this global tournament, was close to a stunt against Spaniard Dani Sánchez with an amazing comeback after he was trailing 25-7 in three innings. The return in the match was spectacular and could happen because his Spanish opponent had a complete blackout after his wonderful start.
Pierre Soumagne came back to 38-31 behind in the final stage, even finished before his opponent at 40-38 and at that time he was virtually qualified for the main draw. But Sánchez, who only needed a draw, dealt with the pressure and scored two times in the equalizer: 40-40 in 21 innings. Pierre Soumagne was out on average. With his head up, the Frenchman could leave the arena as one of the young heroes of this World championship, cheered by all the hundreds of spectators at the Palais des Congrès.
Marco Zanetti, who played the best match in this round (40-14 in 14 against Hyung Ki Kim) watched the match end from the side. Marco, whispering: ,,Pierre has done this to me in the World Cup in Sluiskil. I know he is always a fighter to the end, he proves it again now.''
The Italian looked back on a strong match himself and and later stated: ,,I didn't have a good feeling when I arrived here, but fortunately I had some time at the practice table here. That gave me confidence which I needed. Still I felt the tension, because every Korean is dangerous. But, maybe the stress was the reason that he wasn't on his best in this match.''
Marco Zanetti's ambitions to start at the World championship? ,,I guess that every top ten player comes to play this tournament to win a medal.''
Nikos Polychronopoulos needed ten innings to take the initiative against Javier Palazón. The Greek held up the margin of ten points until the twentieth inning and then ended the match: 40-28 in 22.
The Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma, surely one of the outsiders in this World championship, crossed the expectations of the Egyptian Sameh Sidhom, the second ranked player who went out after Caudron: 40-23 in 21 innings.
Marco Zanetti: every top ten player comes here to win a medal
Nikos Polychronopoulos, a win over Javier Palazón and among the best 16 in the tournament