3-Cushion
NEW YORK - The run-up to the final with eight players in the Verhoeven Open in New York is two days on its way and about to end today (Saturday) on the third day. Twelve players are in the race for eight places. Myung-Woo Cho, Eddy Merckx, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez are the four leaders in the groups. The most tension is to be expected in Group C, where Blomdahl leads and Roland Forthomme, Jun-Tae Kim and Gerhard Kostistanski are in full pursuit.
Myung-Woo Cho is still the best player on average (2,386) in the 40-field. Dani Sánchez recovered from his misstep in the first round, showing up in a win in 12 innings and a 15-run. Roland Forthomme lost his unbeaten status against Gerhard Kostistansky, the American champion Hugo Patiño lost his chances. Nikolaus Kogelbauer is chasing for Eddy Merckx and Dion Nelin. Seung-Il Jeong made a strange dive: from three wins on the first day to three losses on the second day.
The third and final day of the second phase of preliminaries starts today, Saturday (10.00 New York, 16.00 Western Europe) with Sayginer-Oh, Forthomme-Kim, Cho-Reina and Blomdahl Kostistansky.
The group overviews:
Group A:
Myung-Woo Cho is the sovereign leader followed by Semih Sayginer and William Oh. The Korean and the Turk are the big contenders for reaching the final. William Oh, with two match points less and a small gap in average, is the only threat to the pair in the lead. Cho defeated Miguel Torres in his best match 35-11 in 15, Sayginer beat Park 35-19 in 18. William Oh suffered his first loss against Harry Peña (35-19 in 19). The Colombian lost to Dong Wook Oh 35-31 in 37. The modest role of French, former junior world champion, is striking: six played, one win.
The ranking in Group A:
1 Myung Woo Cho 12-2.386-14
2 Semih Sayginer 12-1,875-12
3 William Oh 10-1.416-9
4 Harry Peña 10-1.287-10
5 Miguel Torres 6-1.380-10
6 Ad Broeders 4-1.116-7
7 John Park 2-1,083-8
8 Adrien Tachoire 2-1.032-9
9 Dong Wook Oh 2-0,769-5
10 Eric Kwon 0-0.756-7.
Myung-Woo Cho, after two days the best in the field of 40 players
William Oh, chasing the two leaders Myung-Woo Cho and Semih Sayginer
Myung-Woo Cho and Adrien Tachoire shake hands before their match
Group B:
Eddy Merckx and Dion Nelin play the leading role, the only rival is young Austrian Nikolaus Kogelbauer. Merckx passed the tricky obstacle Arnim Kahofer (35-29 in 27), Nelin had a small relapse, but remained unbeaten with 12 points and 2,346. Kogelbauer lost his only and by far weakest match against Kang Lee 35-31 in 43 innings. 17-year-old Dane Lukas Mortensen is a promising rooky.
Group B ranking:
1 Eddy Merckx 12-1.510-10
2 Dion Nelin 12-1.346-13
3 Nikolaus Kogelbauer 10-1.035-8
4 Arnim Kahofer 6-1.148-6
5 Martin Olesen 6-1,060-11
6 Kang Lee 6-1.043-7
7 Young Gull Lee 4-0,926-8
8 Thi Pham 2-0,925-6
9 Lukas Mortensen 2-0.825-7
10 Khalil Diab 0-0.708-6.
Austrian Nikolaus Kogelbauer, third in his group with two leaders: Merckx and Nelin
Lukas Mortensen (7) from Denmark: talent for the future
Group C:
The group of death counts four contenders for two positions on top. Torbjörn Blomdahl is the only one unbeaten with 12 points and 1,764. In the decisive part, the Swede starts on Saturday against Gerhard Kostistansky. Roland Forthomme was beaten by Kostistansky (35-32 in 18) and joined the three pursuers on Blomdahl. The Belgian meets Korean Jun-Tae Kim in his first match on the third day. Hugo Patiño is out for a top two position due to two losses in the last rounds. The two Danes Dan Johansen and Claus Petersen are on the hunt for the first match win on the last day.
Ranking in Group C:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 12-1,764-11
2 Roland Forthomme 10-1.617-13
3 Jun-Tae Kim 10-1.573-11
4 Gerhard Kostistansky 10-1.441-10
5 Hugo Patiño 6-1.208-8
6 Brian Knudsen 6-1,208-8
7 Mario Villegas 4-1,146-11
8 Sang-Jin Lee 2-0.869-7
9 Dan Johansen 0-0.869-8
10 Claus Petersen 0-0.729-5.
Torbjörn Blomdahl, rock solid on his way to the third day
Jun-Tae Kim, in chasing group with Forthomme and Kostistansky
Group D:
Dani Sánchez, Chang-Hoon Seo and Sameh Sidhom are equal in match points and close together on averages. The trio starts the battle for two places, one of these three has to leave the stage. Sánchez played the best match of the day against Tae-Kyu Lee: 35-16 in 12, run 15. Sidhom won his last two over Vandenver Reina (35-31 in 24) and Michael Kang (35-31 in 24). The revelations in this group are Raymon Groot and Markus Dömer. The German first beat Sánchez and on the second day Kang 35-17. In 17. Raymon Groot, who started with a win over Sidhom, was the better of the unbeaten leader Chang-Hoon Seo in a thrilling final: 35-34 in 18. The Dutchman also beat Vietnamese Luu in a strong match, 35-10 in 16.
The ranking in Group D:
1 Dani Sanchez 10-1.666-15
2 Chang-Hoon Seo 10-1.559-9
3 Sameh Sidhom 10-1.537-8
4 Markus Dömer 8-1.265-7
5 Raymon Groot 6-1.196-9
6 Seung-Il Jeong 6-1.196-9
7 Hong Van Luu 4-0.906-7
8 Tae-Kyu Lee 2-1.098-7
9 Vandenver Reina 2-0,853-9
10 Michael Kang 2-0,837-6.
Chang-Hoon Seo, only beaten by Raymon Groot
Sameh Sidhom, one of the three for two positions
Raymon Groot, revelation with wins over Sidhom and unbeaten Seo
Markus Dömer surprised the audience and himself in Carom Cafe