Swedish/German thriller at start of Nations World in Viersen

VIERSEN - Thunderous applause came from the German fans filled the playing hall where the World championship for nation teams came out of the starting blocks. Ronny Lindemann, frontrunner of the home land, beat Swedish giant Torbjörn Blomdahl 40-38 in 22 innings with a final sprint of seven. That was not only one of the best matches on the opening day, but certainly the most sensational. The Germans, with only 16-year-old Amir Ibraimov as runner-up, played a draw against Sweden and Lindemann was the best in average out of 32 players (from 16 countries): 1.888. The highlight of the day was Quyet Chien Tran's near-to-finish shot. The Vietnamese, last winner of a World Cup (Bogotá) went to a finish of 15 points against Ruben Legazpi, but miraculously missed the last carom in a tight corner.

Michael Nilsson kept the Swedish team (9-time winner at this World championship) in the race for places in the knock-outs. The number 2 in his team team defeated Amir Ibraimov 40-21 in 28, allowing Sweden to chase the Belgians on the second day, who lead in this group after a 4-0 victory over Egypt. Jef Philipoom was the best winner for the Belgians, Eddy Merckx had slightly more trouble with Riad Nady.

The ranking in Group D (match points, won matches, average, runs):

1. Belgium 2 points, 4-1,355-6
2. Sweden 1-2-1,560-8
3. Germany 1-2-1,220-8
4. Egypt 0-0-0.745-7

Another spectacular match was the one between Myung Woo Cho, the world number one, and Raymon Groot, a Dutchman, who is married to an American wife and lives in New York. The small, virtuoso Korean, who switched cues (carbon/wood) after the World Cup in Bogotá and this event in Viersen and looked a bit uncertain, squandered a lead against the USA player. In the closing stages, Groot even had three, four chances to win. ''I did have at least ten unnecessary misses, otherwise I would have been out much quicker,'' the Dutchman said later. But as Myung Woo Cho also missed his chances, in the end Raymon Groot was able to win the match 40-39 in 31 innings.

The Koreans were saved by Jung Han Heo, who won his match against Hugo Patiño and brought the Americans to 1-1. Heo finished in 27 innings and was among the best winners of the opening day.

 In this group, Colombia and Greece also played a draw and thus the four teams are on 2 match points out of 1 game. Huberney Cataño was the better of Kostas Kokkoris 40-32 in 30, while young Dimitrios Seleventas beat multiple Colombian champion Pedro Gonzalez 40-34 in 38.

The ranking in Group B:

1. South Korea 1-2-1,362-8
2. Colombia 1-2-1,333-6
3. USA 1-2-1,189-7
4. Greece 1-2-1,018-5

Raymon Groot from USA team beat the world's nr. 1 Myung Woo Cho

The teams of the Netherlands and France will battle for the leading position in Group C on Friday morning (11.00). The fight will almost certainly go between these two contenders, because Japan proved unable to withstand the French as outsiders in this group. Jérémy Bury faced little opposition from Ryuuji Umeda, the former world champion: 40-23 in 29. The other Frenchman, Michael Devogelaere, beat Miyashita 40-33 in 31.

The Netherlands, without long-time frontrunner Dick Jaspers at this World’s, were too strong for Jordan with a generous win for Jeffrey Jorissen (40-10 in 25) and a rather tough match for Jean Paul de Bruijn, which he won 40-34 in 34.

The ranking in Group C:

1. Netherlands 2-4--1,355-7
2. France 2-4-1,333-8
3. Japan 0-0-0.933
4. Jordan 0-0-0.745

Turkey's defending champion Vietnamese closed the first round in Group A with a win over Argentina. At the other table, two big contenders were evenly matched. Vietnamese faced a big rival in Spain.

Quyet Chien Tran was the sensation of the evening's matches with a great finish against Ruben Legazpi. He was able to finish the match even on a 27-25 deficit with 15, which he seemed to do, but before the last carom, his cue ball disappeared into an ultra small hole in the corner. Ruben Legazpi had one last chance, made 7 and missed at 39-37. At that score, Tran was able to finish in 23 innings. With that, he levelled the score for his country, as Phuong Vinh Bao lost to the excellent playing Sergio Jimenez at the other table: 40-33 in 24.

Tomorrow in this group of death, Turkey will play Spain first.

Ranking in Group A:

1. Turkey 2-4-1,159-7
2. Spain 1-2-1,638-7
3. Vietnam 1-2-1,538-14
4. Argentina 0-0-0.779-5

Quyet Chien Tran, great finish with 14 in the second last

Sergio Jimenez, a win against the world champion Bao