PORTO - The Spanish talents Antonio Montes, David Martinez, Juan David Zapata and seasoned player Alfonso Legazpi colored the second day of the World Cup in Porto. The best player on the opening day, Antonio Montes, did not let up on day 2, when he shone twice. He recorded a 2.000 average match and a 13 inning match (high run 13). Alfonso Legazpi, who is the father of Rubén, was second-best in match average, using 14 innings for 30 points.
The Spanish march of triumph on the second day was impressive: David Martinez and Juan David Zapata also showed their class, with Martinez creating some distance between himself and his competitor of similar age. For Spain, Jose Maria Mas and Gil Carlos Cortes also qualified, underling the red-yellow-red dominance of day two.
The last Spaniard to qualify was Jose Ramon Gonzalez, and he did that in a true, 51-inning marathon. He ran a four late in the match, but missed in the equalizer and left the win to Portuguese Tomás. It completed the field of sixteen winners and the tournament directors could start planning day three.
Portuguese home player Manuel Santos Oliveira made a fine impression with matches in 23 and 16 innings. Omer Karakurt was consistency personified, with 23 and 22 inning wins. Paulo Andrade, another seasoned player, survived day two with four points and 1.176.
Six Spaniards, three of those making up the top three, three Portuguese, three Turks, three Koreans and a Frenchman will return tomorrow, Wednesday.
Tuesday's results:
1 Antonio Montes 4-2.000-13
2 Alfonso Legazpi 4-1.764-9
3 David Martinez 4-1.714-6
4 Manuel Santos Oliveira 4-1.538-7
5 Omer Karakurt 4-1.333-8
6 Sang Ku Kang 4-1.304-6
7 Juan David Zapata 4-1.224-4
8 Paulo Andrade 4-1.176-6
9 Jung Wan Lim 4-1.132-10
10 José Maria Mas 4-1.132-9
11 Vincent Lelievre 4-1.090-6
12 Gil Carlos Cortes 4-1.034-8
13 In Seok Kang 4-0.937-7
14 Akif Guvenmez 4-0.869-7
15 Levent Oczi 4-0.810-4
16 Fernando Tomás 3-0.714-5.
Tomorrow, on day three, several players from a high echelon will be at the tables, such as Savas Bulut, Kostas Kokkoris, Kostas Papakonstantinou, Myung Woo Cho, Robinson Morales, Can Capak, Murat Tüzül, Emrullah Basegmez, Gókhan Salman, Ruben Legazpi, Javier Palazón, Ahmet Alp, Carlos Crespo, Vinh Ly The and the ladies world champion, Therese Klompenhouwer.
Play will start at 11.00, Portuguese time.
Antonio Montes, leads the table for the second day running
Father Legazpi recorded a 14-inning win
Manuel Santos Oliviera: 16 innings on his home turf
Omer Karakurt, the former European junior champion played with consistency
Jose Maria Mas: a narrow escape against Cho
In Seok Kang: one of the better players on day two
Jose Miguel Soares, one of the Portuguese talents