LA BAULE - Two young Spanish top players, Juan David Zapata (24) and David Martinez (24), stepped on the plane in Valencia on Monday for a flight to the World Cup in La Baule. They arrived four hours later in Nantes (France) after a short stopover in Lisbon. At the airport there, the luggage of the two players was lost. The two suitcases with their clothes and - even more important - the billiardcues, remained at the airport in Lisbon. On Tuesday, the day the two Spanish billiard players had to start in the World preliminaries, the luggage still had not arrived in France. In casual clothes and with another cue, Martinez and Zapata appeared in the arena. David Martinez escaped and survived, despite a loss in his second match. Juan David Zapata had to leave the tournament after one day.
David Martinez finished far below his normal average over two matches: 1.017. Juan David Zapata did even less: 1.000. The strange cue, even though it was a Theory of Mehmet Goren, proved a major handicap for both. ,,I've never felt so insecure at the table'', said Martinez later.
,,The cue was good, but I had no feeling. The tip was new, the cue a little longer, so it felt all slightly different. I couldn't find my normal feeling.'' Juan David Zapata, speaking about the flight: ,,We had only fifty minutes for the stop in Lisbon, but there was a thirty minutes delay. We had to run fast to catch the plane. The luggage - and therefore our cues - didn't make it for the flight to France.''
The most lucky Spaniard may return tomorrow and play in a group with the Turkish Birol Uymaz and the Egyptian Ahmed Emam. The other (Zapata) only finished third reserve and missed the qualification regrettably. ,,We have finally heard that the luggage has been found'', said Martinez at the end of the second day. ,,Tomorrow (Wednesday) it will be delivered to the hotel. I hope that will be in time to play my first match against Uymaz.''
Martinez was lucky because in his group three players finished with two match points. The Spaniard lost his second match by one carom against the Dutchman Volkan Cetin, who lost his first match against another Spaniard in this group, Per Kofoed. Martinez' average was good enough for the group win. Zapata was, also on average, outplayed by the Korean Won Young Choi.
The Korean Kim Byeong Ho, who recorded a match against Thomas Kerl in 11 innings (30-5, was the best winner of the day with four match points and 1.621, followed by Antonio Montes, again in an excellent rhythm, with 4 points and 1.538, two Koreans Hyun Woo and Kim Sang Ku Kang, both in 1.304. The Koreans were with ten players in the top sixteen, the French with four: Cédric Melnytschenko, Gwendal Marechal, Vincent Lelievre and Jean-Paul Six, who managed to beat Gülsen Degener on her birthday.
The Korean player Byeong Ho Kim was the best on the second day
The top sixteen on the second day:
1 Byeong Ho Kim (Kor) 4-1.621-10
2 Antonio Montes (Sp) 4-1.538-10
3 Hyun Woo Kim (Kor) 4-1.304-11
4 Sang Ku Kang (Kor) 4-1.304-6
5 Cédric Melnytschenko (Fr) 4-§.113-8
6 Gwendal Marechal (Fr) 4-1.200-9
7 Ji Hun Ahn (Kor) 4-1.153-5
8 Vincent Lelievre (Fr) 4-1.090-7
9 Jung Wan Lim (Kor) 4-1.071-7
10 Jean-Paul Six (Fr) 4-1.071-6
11 Levent Okci (Tur) 4-0.983-5
12 Sung Il Jeong (Kor) 4-0.967-7
13 Wan Young Choi (Kor) 2-1.181-6
14 Oh Bok Cho (Kor) 2-1.139-5
15 Jung Ju Shin (Kor) 2-1.098-9
16 David Martinez (Sp) 2-1.017-4
The most interesting groups for tomorrow, Wednesday:
Group A: Myung Woo Cho (finalist at the World Cup in Guri), Byeong Ho Kim en Jean Paul de Bruijn
Group B: Murat Tüzül, Mehmet Goren, Antonio Montes
Group E: Kostas Kokkoris, Cédric Melnytschenko, Arnim Kahofer
Group F: Jose Juan Garcia, Emrullah Basegmez, Gwendal Marechal
Group J: Therese Klompenhouwer, Jean-Paul Six, Hakan Incekara
Group K: Ahmet Bayatli, Levent Okci, Ahmet Alp
Group P: Birol Uymaz, David Martinez, Ahmed Emam.
Juan David Zapata was eliminated in his casual clothss and with a strange cue
The French player Gwendal Marechal is one of the youngsters in the next round
Cédric Melnytschenko returns to the arena in a strong group with Kokkoris and Kahofer
Antonio Montes, again in the top of the ranking on the second day