LA BAULE - The match between two giants in the world of three cushion predicted lots of excitement, spectacle and highlights. The reality, early Saturday night at La Baule's World Cup, it was even more sensational. Semih Sayginer had the magic touch and outplayed Dick Jaspers the world champion, in a match played on an unbelievable high level. The Turkish wizard won 40-25 in six innings, a record in a World Cup with never seen averages: for Semih Sayginer 6.667, for Dick Jaspers 4.167.
The crowd rewarded the two stars with a standing ovation. For a few minutes the players themselves were in ecstasy . When the Korean Jae-Ho Cho started his last and winning inning against Dani Sánchez (40-19 in 18), Semih Sayginer showed his happiness to the arena and Dick Jaspers looked at the scoreboard in disbelief. WHAT A MATCH, WHAT A DEMONSTRATION OF HIGH CLASS, WHAT SCORES AND WHAT A BRILLIANT LEVEL on this second last day of the Wold Cup.
When the score was at 13-12 (Sayginer) in three innings, the Turk then attacked with 12 to 25-12. And with Sayginer leading 38-13 after five innings, Jaspers started a final, furious counter attack with 12 for a 25-38 score. But in that same inning, Sayginer gloriously reached the finish with his last two points: 40-25 in six innings!!!!!!!!
Sunday, the four finalists are Frédéric Caudron, Martin Horn, Semih Sayginer and Jae-Ho Cho. After Jaspers' elimination, the Belgian surely remains the number one on the world ranking followed by Jaspers and Marco Zanetti. Semih Sayginer, seventh on the ranking, can rise further, Jae-Ho Cho consolidates his position in the top fourteen.
Frédéric Caudron barely won the match in the quarterfinals against Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma, who led 20-10, 26-18. The Belgian came back by runs of 7 and 8 to 26-24. The match went to the finish line at 35-35, Caudron finished by three times one, Ma missed just one time too much: 40-39 in 20.
Jae-Ha Cho played a superior match against Dani Sánchez. The Korean led after a run of 11 by 24-4 in six innings, Sánchez could not catch up. The only Korean in the tournament won 40-19 in 18. Martin Horn, due to his long absence in the World Cups is ranked number 46 in the rankings, has the come-back to the world top for the taking. The German played himself in the last four by a victory over Marco Zanetti. Horn started with 7 and 9 in the fourth and fifth inning, Zanetti came back with a run of ten in the sixth inning: 21-19. The next attack by the German brought him to 30-20 in 12 and from 35-26 he ran to the finish, 40-30 in 18 innings.
The semi-finals:
Sunday 11.00: Caudron-Horn
13.00: Sayginer-Cho.
With the best sixteen of this World Cup on Saturday morning at the start, the match between Frédéric Caudron and Murat Naci Coklu ended in a close finish. The Belgian led halfway 21-8 when Coklu brought the match back to life after the break with 11 (25-22 in 12). At the end, Caudron took the win, 40-34, in the equalizer, Coklu scored two more times: 40-36 in 21.
The replay of the World championship final between Jaspers and Bury showed a totally different battle than in Cairo's thriller. Then, Jaspers took the gold in the last part of the regular game and in the shoot-out. The Dutchman was now, in La Baule superior to the last Frenchman in the tournament. Jaspers led 24-6 after seven innings, 31-13 after 14 and finished 40-23 in 18 innings.
Dion Nelin looked back on a strong tournament, in which he still showed to be among the best players in the world. At the end station, in the last sixteen, the Dane was defeated by Jae-Ho Cho, the last Korean in the tournament. Cho took victory at 40-22 in 17 innings.
Semih Sayginer was the better of Tayfun Tasdemir in the Turkish clash. The gap was already made in the eighth inning, when Sayginer ran to 25-11 with a run of 11. He consolidated the margin in the last part and won 40-30 in 18.
Martin Horn had a quick start vs Jung-Han Heo (22-6 in 7) and then had a setback with six misses in a row. The Korean came back in the game to 22-20, it went up and down in the next innings, but Horn had a fabulous final sprint with 9: 40-33 in 19.
The two Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma and Dinh Nai Ngo levelled in their match all the way and ended at 40-40. The shootout had to point the winner. Ma started with two and missed a difficult bank shot for his third. Ngo had it in his own hands, but missed out his second by a kiss.
Dani Sánchez put an end to the illusions of Birol Uymaz, who showed again his progress in this tournament and seems to come step by step closer to the world top. Sánchez finished at 40-30 (19), in a high-level session with matches in 17, 18, 18 and 19 innings.
Marco Zanetti dominated the match against Quyet Chien Tran without having a big margin. Just before the break, Zanetti ran to 20-14 with 11. The Italian came close to the finished and closed the match with a run of 4: 40-31 in 22.
Martin Horn defeated Marco Zanetti and meets up with Caudron in the semi finals
Frédéric Caudron, by his win over Ma in the last four
Jae-Ho Cho, bettered Dani Sánchez and is the last Korean in the final rounds