BORDEAUX - The top 5 players in the world have survived the group stage of the world championship in Bordeaux without too much problems. The reigning champion, Sung-Won Choi, has lost his title and will make a free fall in the ranking. Dani Sánchez was the best player in the qualifications (2.222 average) that were overshadowed by the difficulties players had adjusting to the equipment.
Sameh Sidhom was the fat lady who sang, when he played a monster of a match on the last evening of qualifying. The Egyptian played Eddy Leppens and trailed 24-4 in 8 at the interval, then made runs of six and nineteen! Leppens was the big favorite in his flight, certainly after Sidhom played a marathon of a match earlier, so his loss (40-35) can be called an upset.
The first few days of this WC, in an era when averages keep going up, will long be remembered for the slipperiness and unpredictability of the cloth. For many players, adapting was just too hard. As it is in World Cups, the top players dealt with it better than the second echelon.
Jae Guen Kim, who beat Sung Won Choi, Miguel Torres, who bested Roland Forthomme and Ruben Legazpi, a win over Hyung Bum Hwang, were the outsiders after three days of qualifying. Jae Ho Cho was a bit luckier than Nikos Polychronopoulos at crunchtime, and Vietnamees Xuan Cuong Ma saw pigs fly as Marco Zanetti destroyed his tournament in a spectacular equalizing inning (run of 7). It cost him the main draw, and put the Italian in it.
Jérémy Bury was the last of the (two) Frenchmen to go out. Korean Dong Koong Kang, who finished with a run of 11, was head and shoulders too strong for the French champion: 40-12 in 18.
Three players from the current top 10 (Sung Won Choi, Roland Forthomme and Hyung Bum Hwang) will not return to the arena on Friday, when the K.O stage starts with 16 players. The Koreans have four guys left (of seven), the Belgians have two of the four they started with, the Turks are with two, the Dutch only have Jaspers now, and Miguel Torres survived for the America's.
The former Colombian shone with happiness after he had eliminated Roland Forthomme (,,who is much better, really'') but the Belgian, who had many Andernos fans in the stands, performed far below his level in this tournament. Miguel Torres, now a US citizen, plays his second WC and is a trickshot specialist.
Jung Han Heo had a horrible start against Michael Nilsson and could only hope for a Korean angel on his shoulder. To advance, he needed a very short match and win over Anh Vu Duong. He got out of the blocks really well (early run of 12), and grabbed the win in his flight.
Final standings of the groups:
Group A:
1 Jae Guen Kim 4-1.509-8
2 Sung Won Choi 2-1.470-9
3 Tatsuo Arai 0-0.772-3
Group B:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 4-1.538-7
2 Ihab El Messery 2-1.019-5
3 Jean Reverchon 0-0.875-5
Group C:
1 Eddy Merckx 4-1.702-7
2 Luis Aveiga 2-1.181-5
3 Semih Sayginer 0-1.250-5
Group D:
1 Dick Jaspers 4-1.904-10
2 Ryuuji Umeda 1-1.263-7
3 Hyung Kon Kim 1-1.169-6
Group E:
1 Tayfun Tasdemir 4-1.777-10
2 Arnim Kahofer 2-1.111-9
3 Cetin Behzat 0-0.784-5
Group F:
1 Dani Sánchez 4-2.222-12
2 Christian Rudolph 2-1.196-5
3 Jan Áles 0-0.509-4
Group G:
1 Marco Zanetti 3-1.702-7
2 Xuan Cuong Ma 3-1.269-9
3 Jean van Erp 0-0,758-5
Group H:
1 Frédéric Caudron 4-1.777-6
2 Huberney Catano 2-1.084-9
3 Christakis Christoforou 0-0.833-6
Group I:
1 Jae Ho Cho 4-1.491-6
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 2-1.538-12
3 Andrès Lizarazo 0-1.207-11
Group J:
1 Ruben Legazpi 4-1.454-8
2 Hyung Bum Hwang 2-1.245-7
3 Juan Pablo Sisterna 0-0.718-6
Group K:
1 Jung Han Heo 2-1.595-12
2 Anh Vu Duong 2-1.560-7
3 Michael Nilsson 2-1.530-6
Group L:
1 Miguel Torres 4-1.212-6
2 Roland Forthomme 2-0.904-9
3 Riad Nady 0-0.714-5
Group M:
1 Sameh Sidhom 4-1.038-19
2 Eddy Leppens 2-1.875-9
3 Cayo Bardales 0-0.657-5
Group N:
1 Adnan Yüksel 4-1.194-10
2 Dion Nelin 2-1.344-6
3 Jean Paul de Bruijn 0-921-5
Group O:
1 Dong Koong Kang 4-1.739-11
2 Jérémy Bury 2-1.000-9
3 Christopher Tevez 0-0.887-7
Group P:
1 Quyet Chien Tran 2-1.813-9
2 Erick Tellez 2-1.510-10
3 Pedro Piedrabuena 0-1.460-9
Matches for eighth finals, Friday:
13.30:
Sánchez-Heo
Jae Guen Kim-Legazpi
Kang-Yüksel
Caudron-Sidhom
16.00:
Tasdemir-Zanetti
Merckx-Torres
Blomdahl-Cho
Jaspers-Tran.