BORDEAUX - Two Spaniards, a Korean and an Egyptian were the first four to qualify for the quarterfinals of the WC in Bordeaux. For the second time in two days, Sameh Sidhom eliminated a Belgian top player: after his spectacular win over Leppens (helped by a run of 19), the African dentist now got the better of one of the top favorites, Frédéric Caudron.
In the match against Leppens, Sidhom had to come from behind (24-4), and the Belgian champion said he "had done absolutely nothing wrong". Caudron on the other hand, did not play anything like a top favorite, or like a player who had shown top form in the past weeks.
The world champion from 2013 (Antwerp) had produced high run after high run in the leagues and in a Belgian Grand Prix, but he was not on that level at all in Bordeaux. Only in the equalizing inning, with Sidhom already on 40 points, did he show some class with a run of 11. It made the score a bit more bearable (from 40-17 to 40-28). It remains to be seen what this will do to Caudron's position in the world ranking: it now looks as if he will just barely hold on to a top-12 place.
He explained his performance at this WC the way many did: ,,Like all the players, I had trouble adjusting to the long tables. Everybody now knows what was going on: it was incredibly tough to play on these Gorina cloths, that had not even been tested prior to the tournament. I was not the only one who had problems, Roland Forthomme, Jean Paul de Bruijn and many others.
Caudron: ,,I started that match against Sidhom with a few very difficult positions, did not find my rhythm at all and Sidhom played extremely well. Mind you, it is not about the tables, I usually play very well on those. Everybody should realize it is about the cloth. And the fact that the players now start to make high runs: that is because the tables get shorter in the second half of the match.''
Twice in this round did a Spaniard beat a Korean. Dani Sanchez and Ruben Legazpi beat Jung Han Heo and Jae Guen Kim, which means they will play each other later this evening.
Ruben Legazpi made the difference with small runs in the middle of the match. ,,We both did not have a very good start, but just before halftime I could get away from him and create a safe margin.''
The 40-23 in 23 inning result brought Legazpi, 30th on the ranking, into the quarterfinal of a WC for the second time in two years. The Spanish clash with Sanchez is a "clasico", ,,We play against each other often, and most of the time, Dani is the strongest'.'
The other Spanish win was not a match with much tension: Dani Sánchez never made a run over 4, but still kept Jung Han Heo far behind him: 40-28 in 29 innings.
The only Korean to survive this round was Dong Koong Kang, in a nice battle with Adnan Yüksel. It was neck and neck until the halfway point (19-18), then Kang ran away to 25-21 and later 39-35. Yüksel still had a few small chances but Kang finished it at 40-37 in 27.