ANKARA – Two big names have left their mark in the first two World Cups of this year so far. Myung Woo Cho won the first in Bogota, Colombia, Frédéric Caudron won the second in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This Monday, June 8, the group of top players will gather in Europe for the first time in this cycle. The Turkish federation's billiards venue in Ankara opened its arena early in the morning for the first preliminary rounds. The third of seven World Cups in total will build towards the grand final in the coming days, which will unfold on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with a new World Cup winner on the highest podium.
The players who have qualified in advance for the main tournament are Myung Woo Cho, Eddy Merckx, Dick Jaspers, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti, Sameh Sidhom, Martin Horn, Berkay Karakurt, Thanh Luc Tran, Frédéric Caudron, Quyet Chien Tran, Jérémy Bury, Glenn Hofman and Haeng Jik Kim. The wildcards for the Turkish host country were awarded to Tolgahan Kiraz and Gökhan Salman; the UMB wildcard went to Pedro Piedrabuena.
In the rankings, Myung Woo Cho is the leader in the top five with 400 ranking points ahead of Eddy Merckx (360), Marco Zanetti (348), Frédéric Caudron (307), and Tayfun Tasdemir (294). The Vietnamese players lead the country table with four players in the top 20. The Belgians are highly ranked with three players, the same as the Turks and the Koreans. Among the big names, Dick Jaspers is at 6 and still close to the top, Quyet Chien Tran has dropped to 13, Phuong Vinh Bao to 18, and Torbjörn Blomdahl to 26 with 99 ranking points. The preliminary round has now started, with Forkan Setel from Turkey as one of the best winners on the first day with 30 in 25. Dominik Nebuda from Austria and Vedat Yilmaz from Turkey won in 21 innings, averaging 1.418. Ender Yuzen was the best so far with 30 in 16 (1.875), while Muhammed Cavuso won with 30 in 18.
The start of the World Cup also features some ladies who play at the top level in the women's World Championships. Korean Ha Eun Kim started with a victory (30 in 44), Güzin Mujde Karakasli and Gülsen Degener did’nt have the best start, Güzin against Senel with 7 in 25, Gülsen against Kahraman 15 in 34.
The most known players this Monday are Seymen Ozbas, Kostas Kokkoris, and Cédric Melnytschenko. On the second day, Amir Ibraimov is one of the rising stars, and Denizcan Akkoca, David Pennör, Alexander Salazar and Jose Maria Mas will give the tournament a first boost.
Wednesday features, among others, Ahmet Alp, Javier Vera, Jose Juan Garcia, Mikaël Devogelaere, Sam van Etten, Pierre Soumagne, Tom Löwe, Jeffrsey Jorissen, and Dimitrios Seleventas.
On the final qualifying day, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Phuong Vinh Bao, Ruben Legazxpi, Jung Han Heo, Hong Chiem Thai, Roland Forthomme, and Nick Polychronopoulos will be at the match tables in an attempt to raise their rankings.
The first eye-catchers in the main tournament are: Caudron-Horn, Zanetti-Bury, Sidhom-Tran, and Tasdemir-Hofman.
It is one hour later in Ankara than in Western Europe. All matches are broadcast live on Soop.
