IZMIR - The first tournament in the series of three for the 2019 Turkish championship has been won by Semih Sayginer. In the Ataturk Stadium in Izmir, the Turkish wizard defeated Tayfun Tasdemir in the final 40-18 in 19 innings. The two finalists had top level performances during the entire tournament with high averages and high runs. The best match was played by Tayfun Tasdemir, who defeated Cem Özkaya 40-7 in 7 innings with a 5.714 average. According to Bert van Manen's record lists, it was the 14th time that 40 points were made in 7 innings. Eddy Merckx is the record holder with three times.
The Turkish tournament started with 48 players, 32 of whom went to the final draw. In the last four, Semih Sayginer beat Murat Tüzül 40-14 in 13 and Tayfun Tasdemir shone against Cem Özkaya, 40-7 in 7. The best match in the quarterfinals was Murat Tüzul's match against Tolgahan Kiraz: 40-38 in 19. Sayginer defeated Berkay Karakurt in that round, Tasdemir defeated Coklu 40-26 in 24, Özkay beat Orak.
Other remarkable matches in the tournament were:
Berkay Karakurt-Ömer Karakurt 40-29 in 18.
Semih Sayginer-Can Capak 40-16 in 18.
Murat Naci Coklu-Savas Güngör 40-13 in 13.
Tayfun Tasdemir-Gökhan Salman 40-25 in 13.
The best run of the tournament was recorded by Savas Bulut, Berkay Karakurt and Tayfun Taşdemir all with 15 points. The overall average of the tournament was 1.292.
The system has been changed in Turkey for 2019. The main tournaments are played with 48 players. Turkish federation organizes four tournaments in a year for all the others: 1500 participants.
At the end of the year, the numbers 1 and 2 of the Turkish championship qualify for the world championship for national teams in Viersen.
