BOGOTA - Robinson Morales' star usually shines in Europe these years, now, in the World Cup in Bogotá, the Colombian Spaniard can show his top class once again in his home land. On the final day of qualifying in this first World Cup of the year, Morales grabbed a starring role with four match points and 2.222 average. In his first appearance, Robinson shone with ample differences against Henry Diaz (40-16 in 22) and Gwendal Maréchal (40-17 in 14). Bong Joo Hwang was the runner-up with 4-1,600-11 and Glenn Hofman with 4-1,481-9. Turkey's Tolgahan Kiraz, known for his high runs, scored a 17. Today, Friday, the best qualifiers, including Nikos Polychronopoulos, Tom Löwe, Jose Juan Garcia, Luis Aveiga, Jeffrey Jorissen and Berkay Karakurt, plunged into battle with the elite of three-cushion. With the eight groups of four, of whom the best two advance to the knockouts with 16, Robinson Morales faces Eddy Merckx, Pedro Morales and Jeffrey Jorissen. One Colombian who is causing a furore in this World Cup, Daniel Moreno, faces Tran, Aveiga and Sidhom and Glenn Hofman, back on track in the World Cups, faces three strong Koreans: Myung Woo Cho, Jung-Han Heo and Chang Hoon Seo.
The full draw for Friday's rounds (from 10.00 in Colombia, 16.00 in Western Europe):
Group A: Dick Jaspers, Berkay Karakurt, Bong Joo Hwang, Pedro Piedrabuena
Group B: Eddy Merckx, Jeffrey Jorissen, Robinson Morales, Jeffrey Jorissen
Group C: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Hong Chiem Thai, Myeong Jong Cha, Daniel Morales
Group D: Myung Woo Cho, Chang Hoon Seo, Jung Han Heo, Glenn Hofman
Group E: Marco Zanetti, Jérémy Bury, Gökhan Salman, Tolgahan Kiraz
Group F: Quyet Chien Tran, Luis Aveiga, Sameh Sidhom, Daniel Moreno
Group G: Jun Tae Kim, Phuong Vinh Bao, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jose Juan Garcia
Group H: Haeng Jik Kim, Thanh Luc Tran, Tayfun Tasdemir, Tom Löwe.
Robinson Morales led 16 winners in a mixed field on Thursday: 2 from Colombia, 2 from Korea, 2 from Turkey, 1 from the Netherlands, 1 from Germany, 1 from Spain, 1 from Greece, 1 from Vietnam and 1 from Ecuador. From the top three runners-up, they were joined by 1 Dutchman, 1 Vietnamese and 1 Turk. Morales played Wednesday's best game against Maréchal in 14 innings, Tolgahan Kiraz against Jimenez in 15 (run 17), Nikos Polychronopoulos against Kang in 18, Peter Ceulemans against Hernandez in 18, Gökhan Salman against Ceulemans in 18.
Glenn Hofman won in a titanic battle against Jeffrey Jorissen 40-30, both players defeating Korean Jeong, Hofman went to the main draw as number 3, Jorissen as second reserve player. Tom Löwe beat two players in favorite roles: Jean Paul de Bruijn 40-35, Burak Hashas 40-22. Jose Juan Garcia left Ruben Legazpi and Rui Costa behind in his group. Daniel Moreno, the revelation of this tournament, beat Berkay Karakurt for group win 40-30 in 19. Luis Aveiga slipped through the final qualification with 3 points and 1.290 and with a draw against Thai with 1.290.
Among the Dutch and Belgians, Glenn Hofman and Jeffrey Jorissen fought a delicious battle in the first round of their pool. The match ran to 8-8 in six innings, Hofman set up a first attack with 9 (17-8), Jorissen came back to 23-20 in a poorer period of his opponent, Hofman had the best final sprint. When Jorissen got to 39-37 with 3 and 4, Hofman was able to finish with 3 for 40-39 in 24.
Sam van Etten was beaten at the last minute by Sergio Jimenez by 40-39 in 26, recovered against Kiraz with 40-30 in 28, but fell just short in average for qualification (1.462). Jean Paul de Bruijn was out after losing to young German Tom Löwe 40-35 in 32, did win against Burak Hashas 40-31 in 28, but 2 match points and 1.250 were not enough to advance.
Peter Ceulemans had a lightning start against Hernandez 40-12 in 18, but ran into a blow from Salman 40-14 loss in 18 moments later, which put him just outside the qualifiers with 2 match points and 1.500. Roland Forthomme fell just short against Turk Orak (40-36 in 25) and played a draw in his second game against T.L Tran in 27 innings. With 1 match point, the Belgian ended up in the bottom group with 1.461 average.
The final score of the last qualifier:
- Robinson Morales 4-2,222-9
- Bong Joo Hwang 4-1,600-11
- Glenn Hofman 4-1,481-9
- Gökhan Salman 4-1,454-11
- Daniel Moreno 4-1,454-8
- Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-1,403-8
- Tom Löwe 4-1,290-5
- Thanh Luc Tran 3-1,739-7
- Jose Juan Garcia 3-1,702-9
- Luis Aveiga 3-1,1,290-9
- Tolgahan Kiraz 2-1,627-17
- Chang Hoon Seo 2-1.604-12
The three reserves and other scores:
13 Hong Chiem Thai 3-1,159-9
14 Jeffrey Jorissen 2-1,717-7
15 Berkay Karakurt 2-1,590-8
Other players:
16 Peter Ceulemans 2-1,500-8
17 Sam van Etten 2-1,462-9
18 Huberney Cataño 2-1.58-5
22 Jean Paul de Bruijn 2-1,296--8