LA BAULE - The cry of joy sounded like a Colombian 'ajjajajja' and came straight from his heart. Robinson Morales the 39-year-old Colombian player, with the upper arms of a body builder, was cheered by a small crowd in the early hours of the last pre-rounds day at the World Cup in La Baule. The final score was spectacular as Morales defeated Wan Young Choi 40-13 in 10 innings!!! The best Colombian match ever on a world stage. The final rounds in the qualifications were closed showing a rarely seen high level of play with six players averaging over 2.0 and three runs of fifteen.
The 21-year-old Gwendal Maréchal, one of the main talented players from Europe, showed his best skills a few hours after Morales' world class match. The French hope to join Jérémy Bury on global stage fought for his last chances and outplayed Spanish young guy David Martinez in a great performance. With a brilliant attack and runs of 15 and 9 in the 7th and 9th inning, this year's European champion came near to the finish at 38-10. Three innings later, the French home crowd cheered him by a standing ovation: 40-14 in 13 innings.
The highlight of the day was still to come. Dion Nelin and Dinh Nai Ngo both won there match against Hideaki Kobayashi, Nelin in 20 innings and Ngo in 21 innings. The Danish-Vietnamese clash for the group win ended sensationally: Dion Nelin finished the match at 40-25 in 17 innings. Dinh Nai Ngo stepped to the table for an almost hopeless mission, but showed his never-give-up mentality. The Vietnamese levelled the score by a run of fifteen, 40-40 in 17. And as a result at the end of the day, Ngo was the best runner-up to join the 32 final players for the main draw. The day was closed by the match between Juan David Zapata and Myung-Woo Cho, decisive for a place in the main draw. The Spaniard finished with a run of six, the Korean failed in the equalizer three points away from the finish and missed the final rounds.
The star parade on the fourth day of the World Cup gala in La Baule was launched by Morales and Maréchal and was the stage for other players to make a shot to the main draw. Tayfun Tasdemir and Nikos Polychronopoulos impressed with 40-points matches in 15 innings, Sung-Uk Oh, like Gwendal Maréchal with a run of 15 and Dinh Nai Ngo with his wonderful climax against Nelin.
Robinson Morales marked his fantastic match against Choi by runs of 6, 6, 4, 4, 8 and 9. The Colombian, who regularly pops up in World Cups, had never done better in his career. Dong-Koong Kang went for a second chance after being knocked down by Jin Pyo Hong (40-26 in 16). In his second match, Kang defeated Adnan Yüksel and eventually reached the main draw through the back door.
Two Vietnamese Ma's qualified for the final rounds thanks to wins over Papkonstantinou, Palazón and Montes, Lütfi Cenet defeated both Choi and Morales and Birol Uymaz impressed with victories over Murat Tüzül and Anh Vu Duong. German Martin Horn first lost to Tonny Carlsen, but then beat Roland Forthomme on his way to the main tournament as the last group winner.
Three group winners showed impressive averages: Hyung Kon Kim 2.285, Nikos Polychronopoulos 2.222 and Xuan Cuong Ma 2.162. Three runners up also ended over two average: Dinh Nai Ngo 2.105, Gwendal Maréchal 2.225 and Robinson Morales 2.176. The total level of the last pre-round day was exceptionally high. Javier Palazón was eliminated with 1.818, Jin Pyo Hong with 1.642, Tonny Carlsen with 1.558, Adnan Yüksel with 1.612 and Roland Forthomme with 1.512.
Robinson Morales and Gwendal Maréchal, both with one match win and one lost game, entered the main event as runners-up, right behind Dinh Nai Ngo.
The highest runs: Hyung Kon Kim, Dinh Nai Ngo and Gwendal Maréchal with 15, Nikos Polychronopoulos with 14.
The final ranking on the last qualification day:
1 Hyung Kon Kim 4-2.285-15
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-2.222-14
3 Xuan Cuong Ma 4-1.162-8
4 Birol Uymaz 4-1,860-11
5 Tayfun Tasdemir 4-1,860-9
6 Lütfi Cenet 4-1.739-8
7 Juan David Zapata 4-1.600-7
8 Sung-Uk Oh 4-1.454-15
9 Minh Cam Ma 4-1,379-9
10 Dion Nelin 3-2.162-11
11 Dong-Koong Kang 2-1.692-7
12 Martin Horn 2-1.595-11
Three runners-up:
1 Dinh Nai Ngo 3-2.105-15
2 Gwendal Maréchal 2-2.225-15
3 Robinson Morales 2-2.176-9.
The draw for the main tournament:
12.00:
Frédéric Caudron-Lütfi Cenet
Murat Naci Coklu-Dong-Koong Kang
Hyung Kon Kim-Minh Cam Ma
Sung-Won Choi-Dinh Nai Ngo
14.00:
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Martin HornJung-Han Heo-Sung-Uk Oh
Quyet Chien Tran-Juan David Zapata
Marco Zanetti-Gwendal Maréchal
16.00:
HaengJik Kim-Birol Uymaz
Dani Sánchez-Pierre Soumagne
Je-Ho Cho-Xuan Cuong Ma
Sameh Sidhom-Dion Nelin
18.00:
Dick Jaspers-Robinson Morales
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Jérémy Bury
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen-Tayfun Tasdemir
Eddy Merckx-Semih Sayginer.
Korean Hyung Kon Kim, the best in the last qualificatons
Nikos Polychronopoulos, impressive in the run-up to the main draw
Vietnamese Xuan Cuong Ma, over two average, in top three
Gwendal Maréchal, 15-run, match in 13 innings, one of three best runners-up to reach the main draw