ANTALYA - The first 2021 Grand Prix in Turkey has reached the final days in the men's, women's and junior tournaments. The highlight so far was Semih Sayginer's match against Omer Karakurt. Semih won the match against the former European junior champion 40-0 (!) in 7 innings with a run of 22 in the third inning. Karakurt's younger brother Berkay shone with a run of 21 to the finish in his match with Ibrahim Hayri Altuntaslar on the same day. The tournament is played at the Limak Limra hotel im Kemer. In the men's tournament 1504 players started, in the ladies 18, in the juniors 39. The semi-finals and finals are tomorrow, Thursday 8 April.
The men show up for the rounds of the last 16 and last 8 today. Semih Sayginer will face Omer Karakurt again at 3pm (Turkish time). The most known Turkish players have made it to the last sixteen. Semih Sayginer's match of 40-0 is comparable to the world record that Dick Jaspers played in Magdeburg in 2018. The Dutchman won in 4 innings against Andreas Efler with the same score: 40-0.
Semih said about his match in the Turkish Grand Prix: ''The tournament, which started on 25 March, was marked by a lot of discussions in the first week. We play with 1500 people, there was a lot of talk about the pandemic, but also about the system we play with 24 groups of 3 players in the main 72. It was stressful for all of us, but in the end everyone was getting better and we are now heading for nice finals. My game against Omer Karakurt was very special: I made the run of 22 and after 3 innings I had 29 points on the score board. Of course, it can always happen, a 40-0 score, it all depends on the positions. That does not alter the fact that Omer Karakurt is a fantastic player. He started the tournament very strong with victories in 13 and 14 innings and had a 2.9 average. Coincidentally, I have to play him again today (Wednesday) in the last 16. We'll see how it goes now, but I will not underestimate him''.
Other Turkish top players such as Tayfun Tasdemir and Murat Naci Coklu are also in action today.
The ladies the tournament has approached the last 12: four groups of three players including Gülsen Degener, Güzin Mujde Karakasli, Arzu Gök and Aysegül Fendi.
In the juniors there is a remarkable talent to show up: Burak Hashas, who turns 15 tomorrow and has also played in the men's preliminaries. The young Turk from Istanbul, who signed a contract with Longoni these days and whose first trainer was the famous Bora Karakay, survived no less than 9 rounds (20 games win, 1,262 on average) in the men's tournament. Hashas, trained by Ahmet Alp and coached by Gülsen Degener, starts today in the last 16 of the junior championship.
The young Turkish talent Burak Hashas with his mentor Gülsen Degener