Sensational start Sruong Pheavy in Izmir

IZMIR - The first performance of Cambodia's Sruong Pheavy at a world championship in billiards is already a sensation after one day. The popular player from Vietnam's border country, who turned 27 last week and is mostly known by the daily videos of herself on the social media, was the better of the ruling, four times champion Orie Hida on the first day at the World championship three cushion in Izmir, Turkey. Pheavy took the win in an exciting match: 25-24 in 23 innings. The match was the opener of the event, which had few other highlights on the first day of play. Therese Klompenhouwer, Aisegul Fendi and Sroung Pheavy took the maximum of match points in two games, the averages were not what was expected.

Sruong Pheavy, from the small city of Kkampongjjam, the oldest in a family with three daughters, only plays billiards for five years, starting two years after she married a Korean when she was 20. ,,I wasn't able to play a world championship before, because my country, Cambodia, only joined UMB this year as a new federation. I want to be the champion of the world, but that will be very difficult'', she said after the victory over Orie Hida, a figurehead in ladies billiards. Then, Pheavy continued: ,,When I could take the world title, I might get a reward from my country and I would help poor children with that money.'' Yet, she confessed: ,,I would cry if I won the title, but I don't think is is for now, maybe in the future.''

The victory over Orie Hida was not followed by a shiny sequel. In her second match, Pheavy needed 37 innings to beat German Steffi Daske (25-11). As a result, she secured her spot in the last eight and in the knock-out, because two players in that group, Hida and Daske, gathered two points and meet each other in the last round. Orie Hida recovered strongly from her first loss. In the second round, the Japanese was way too strong for Jeannette Jensen, in the best match of the first match day: 25-9 in 19.

Therese Klompenhouwer, as a two-time champion one of the huge favourites, started the tournament with two wins, but not with the averages that were expected. Turkish Guzin Mujde Karakasli, with a wildcard in the tournament, threatened the Dutch to the finish, but eventually was beaten, 25-23 in 31 innings. In her second match, Klompenhouwer only shone in the final sprint: at 21-13 in 28, the European champion ran to the finish with 4 against Helga Mitterböck. That opened the way to the quarter-finals with four match points.

The young Korean Bo Mi Kim (19), who also makes her debut, had a poor start with a loss against Jaimie Buelens (25-22 in 45), but after her win against Jacqueline Perez from Peru, Kim certainly is a contender for the last eight. In the second round, Kim was the second player after Hida, who played a match over 1 average. She defeated Perez 25-9 in 23. The Belgian Buelens couldn't give the victory in her first match a follow-up. Turkish Aysegul Fendi defeated Buelens in a marathon match: 25-22 in 59 innings.

The Turkish champion Gülsen Degener, who had a tough summer, but has been able to fully train again in the last ten days, made a half-misstep against Colombian Claudia Lalinde (25-25 in 32), but leads on average in her group after the victory over Japanese Ayako Sakai. Degener is followed by Lalinde, also with 3 match points. The other Colombian, Johana Sandoval, has two match points in that group and recorded the best run of the day: 7.

The rankings after two games and one more round to play:

Group A:
1 Sruong Pheavy 4-0.833-4
2 Orie Hida 2-1.166-4
3 Steffi Daske 2-0.460-4
4 Jeannette Jensen 0-0.403-2

Group B:
1 Gülsen Degener 3-0.793-5
2 Claudia Lalinde 3-0.609-4
3 Johana Sandoval 2-0.420-7
4 Ayako Sakai 0-0.518-3

Group C:
1 Therese Klompenhouwer 4-0.833-4
2 Guzen Mujde Karakasli 2-0.685-4
3 Helga Mitterböck 2-0.436-3
4 Paola Castillo 0-0.360-3

Group D:
1 Aysegul Fendi 4-0.450-3
2 Bo Mi Kim 2-0,691-6
3 Jaimie Buelens 2-0.451-4
4 Jacqueline Perez 0-0.373-2.

The sixteen players before the start at the World championship in Izmir

Gülsen Degener, a win and a draw, leader in her group

Young Korean Bo Mi Kim (19) had a poor start, but recovered very well