Worldchampionship National TeamsViersen (Germany)

The first big clash: WC for nations in Viersen

02/15/2018

Published by frits bakker

The Korean winners last year, Sung-Won Choi and Jae-Guen Kim

VIERSEN - The most famous German billiard arena, where the World championship for national teams is played, was the stage for a Korean climax last year. The tournament, in the Festhalle in Viersen, was not won by a traditional winner, but was dominated on the final day by two Koreans from the country of the new champions: Sung-Won Choi and Jae-Guen Kim. The final match was followed in their home country thanks to the images of Kozoom by 1.5 million tv-viewers. Next week, from the 22nd to the 25th of February, 16 strong billiard nations will face each other again, for the second time in a row according to the new tournament system: the Scotch Double.

The field has been reduced from 24 to 16 teams, which means that teams like Sweden, Spain and Italy are missing. The Vietnamese return to the arena where so many fascinating battles took place over the years. The Festhalle in Viersen is the decor for the 29th time, the World championship is held for the 32nd time in total. The tournament was given a new impulse in recent years by the Scotch Double game system, with four players from two teams at one billiard. The format even brings more excitement to the tournament, moreover, the Scotch Double is enthusiastically received by the spectators. The ambiance and atmosphere again will be unique this year, because Viersen is known as no other tournament in the billiard world for its exuberant fans from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

An important change was made with the Scotch Double. The World championship should be given a more international appearance and, in particular, be more attractive to countries from far away. Due to the renewal, the number of teams has been reduced to sixteen. All possible B teams have been removed from the program. Europe now has seven starting positions, which are recruited from the final ranking of the European championship in Brandenburg. The WC is now played in groups of four, allowing each team to play three matches. The second place in the group is enough to reach the knock-out round.

Kozoom-reporter Frits Bakker asked some random participants to their 'Viersen-feeling' and how they experience this nation World championship.

Martin Horn (Germany): ,,The UMB has clearly understood that this is a better system: groups of four and sixteen participants. The prize money is considerably increased, twice as high, which is good for the development of our sport. I think, the Scotch Double is great. Once a year it is fun to play like that. The spectators will certainly enjoy it.''

Sung-Won Choi (South Korea): ,,It is with a great sense of pride that I return to the World championships in Viersen. The victory last year was the first for Korea with the national teams. I often remembered my first performance at this tournament with Kyung-Roul Kim, one of the best Korean billiard players, who died two years ago. He would have been very proud after our World victory in Viersen.''

Dick Jaspers (Netherlands): ,,This world championship in Viersen is for me the 24th time I play for my country. Always well organized and with great pleasure. With the Scotch Double, there is more entertainment, but I like to be part of it. This time, I play with Jean Paul de Bruijn, a player of my generation. We have a lot of confidence to perform well. It is always an honour to play for the Netherlands. Winning the world title, is magical and wonderful for your palmares. I hope there will be a lot of people again, especially now with the change: new format, different system, more prize money. I'm looking forward for some nice days.''

Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam): ,,We haven't been there for a couple of years, at the World championships in Viersen, so we are happy that we are invited again. It is a very tough tournament, to play for our country in this format. We have to be very good to reach the final rounds. Self-confidence is very important. We look forward to join the party in Viersen.''

Nick Polychronopoulos (Greece): ,,We are at the start of the first international tournament in 2018. It is always an honour to play for our national team. The World championship is a big event in billiards with the most top players in action. We will do our best to finish high. Good luck to everyone.''

Jef Philipoom (België): ,,This is my first time Scotch Double, the second time with Frédéric Caudron at this World championship. When we played for the first time together, we were eliminated by Germany B. I have high expectations, we want to be very good there and I hope to be on stage for the first time in 8 performances in Viersen. It is a wonderful tournament with a great audience.''

Sameh Sidhom (Egypt): ,,We have been participating with Egypt since 2007, I missed only two myself. We have reached an eighth place once. I play with 'Abdin', an excellent partner, but it's difficult to estimate our chances. We are facing strong opponents, but we hope to reach the podium.''

Tonny Carlsen (Denmark): ,,We look forward, Thomas and me, with great confidence to this wonderful tournament. With Vietnam and Greece we are divided in a tough group, but we will do our utmost to finish in the best two. I expect fantastic billiards to be seen with a great audience.''

Robinson Morales (Colombia): ,,I feel happy that I can play this championship for teams for the second time in a row and to represent my country. This tournament is very spectacular with its format. There is less difference in quality now and I hope Colombia can play for a medal. We see in Viersen.''

Ramón Rodriguez (Peru): ,,The World championship for national teams is a very special event. This is the only tournament on the calendar where we fight defending our flag and country, and every player has a special feeling. The arena in the Festhalle is turned into a temple of the best billiard in the world. I am very happy to be here again.''

Yusuke Mori (Japan): ,,This is my first time at the World championships in Viersen, so I have no experience, especially not with Scotch double. It is wonderful for me to play with a good partner. He is the number one in Japan, I am the number two. We will give the best we can.''

George Lteif (Lebanon): ,,The World championship in Viersen means a lot to us as players, to the federation and to the Ministry of Lebanon. In our country, billiards become more popular every year. We have a lot of clubs and the number of players is constantly increasing. As a result, we have made a lot of progress, proved by the achievement in Asian and Arab championships this year. We are very happy that we are allowed to participate in Viersen.''

The participating teams and players:

1. Korea - Sung-Won Choi; Dong Koong Kang
2. Germany - Martin Horn; Ronny Lindemann
3. Turkey - Semih Sayginer; Tayfun Tasdemir
4. The Netherlands - Dick Jaspers; Jean Paul de Bruijn
5. Greece - Nikos Polychronopoulos; Dionisis Tsokantas
6. Denmark - Tonny Carlsen; Thomas Andersen
7. Belgium - Frédéric Caudron; Jef Philipoom
8. France - Jérôme Barbeillon; Cedric Melnychenko
9. Austria - Arnim Kahofer; Andreas Efler
10. Ecuador - Javier Teran; Luis Aveiga
11. Peru - Guido Sacco; Ramón Rodriguez
12. Colombia - Fernando Diaz; Robinson Morales
13. Vietnam - Quoc Nguyen Nguyen; Quyet Chien Tran
14. Japan - Nobuyasu Sakai; Yusuke Mori
15. Lebanon - George Ltief; Yasser Shehayeb
16. Egypt - Sameh Sidhom; Mohamed Abdin

The group format:

Group A
Belgium
France
Japan
Lebanon

Group B
The Netherlands
Austria
Egypt
Ecuador

Group C
Korea
Denmark
Greece
Vietnam

Group D
Turkey
Germany
Colombia
Peru

Prize money:

1st place: 8.000 euros
2nd place: 6.000
3rd-4th place: 3.600
5th-8th place: 2.400
9-16th place: 1.400