World CupPorto (Portugal)

The World Cup in Porto, and still the heat is on

07/02/2025

Published by frits bakker

Three of the Colombians dominating the third World Cup day in Porto: Morales, Cataño and Garcia

PORTO – The groaning, after three days, under the scorching heat at the World Cup in Porto has gradually fade away. The small wind bloweerss on the players' tables and under the billiards give a little cooling. The level of play, the averages, are still fluctuating noticeably. The realisation that a World Cup three-cushion tournament is for players in their usual black outfits and not for ladies in short skirts, like those strolling around in the Portuguese city these days, has brought the hot billiard arena back to the sport that really matters. The Jasper’s, the Zanettis, the Trans, the Merckxes, the Baos and the Chos are on their way and will take the World Cup to its climax. For now, it were the outliers who ruled the qualifiers.

Carlos Crespo's rise lasted exactly one hot summer day. Adrien Tachoire dominated on the second day of play, but the Spaniard and the Frenchman have now made way for other highlights, like the top match of young German Amir Ibraimov (2,188) and the wonderful start protocol of Maxime Panaia, Alexander Salazar and Van Ly Dao.

The Colombians have announced their intention to compete for high rankings. Alexander Salazar, Jose Juan Garcia, Huberney Cataño and Daniel Morales have set the tone for South America on this third day. It would be wonderful for this wildly popular billiards country if these true protagonists could once again play a leading role in a World Cup. The four Colombians finished in the top 7 of the daily rankings. Alexander Salazar was the best with 1,666.

The ups and downs, whether or not a result of the hot atmosphere, suddenly make many favorite players unpredictable. That was first for Carlos Crespo (2,500 and 0.750), also for Amir Ibraimov (2,187 and 0.710), Joseba Escribano (1,500 and 0.350), Hoan Tat Nguyen (1,578 and 0.700), Tom Löwe (1,764 and 0.555) and Maxime Panaia (1,591 and 0.830).

The most notable matches on the third day included Jean Paul de Bruijn's start against Marcos Morales. The Dutchman, who won world gold with Dick Jaspers with the national team in Viersen this year, has often played well below his high class in the World Cups and is gradually becoming one of the most unpredictable players on the global circuit. He lost his two matches against Marcos Morales (35-16) and Van Ly Dao (35-30) with an average of 0.898.

Jef Philipoom slipped into the next round after losing to Birol Uymaz (35-24 after a final run of 11). Lukas Stamm beat Uymaz, Philipoom beat Stamm, and the Belgian had the better average than Uymaz with 1.372.

Peter Ceulemans will enter the final qualifying round this Wednesday with Jef Philipoom as one of his opponents. Amir Ibraimov will face Jérémy Bury, Maxime Panaia faces Haeng Jik Kim. Glenn Hofman will take on Serdal Bas and Nguyen Chi Long. Frédéric Caudron has been drawn in a group with Dimitrios Seleventas and Pierre Soumagne, a feared opponent for him in one of the previous World Cups.

Huberney Cataño plays alongside Myeong Jong Cha and Sam van Etten. Two Spaniards will face each other: Ruben Legazpi and Sergio Jimenez. Roland Forthomme and Jeffrey Jorissen battle it out for group win with Viet Hoang Minh Thon. Alexander Salazar is preparing to face TTT Nguyen and Omer Karakurt.

Seven Dutch players, on the day that is usually feared by the Oranje in the qualifiers, all failed to reach the next round. Joey de Kok, Huub Wilkowski and Volkan Cetin won one match in the groups of three, while Jean Paul de Bruijn, Jordy de Kruijf, Adrie Demming and Reggy Brouwers finished without any match points.

Alexander Salazar, the leading man of the Colombians