HURGHADA - His father is one of the referees in the Hurghada World Cup, he himself started as the youngest player in the opening round this morning. Mahmoud Ayman is only fifteen, he's playing billiards since he is ten and is a member of the Rivoli club in Cairo, where Egyptian Sameh Sidhom is a famous player.
He was the most remarkable player in the billiards room this morning, Mahmoud Ayman, with his beautiful red gillet, black hairs and nice, friendly face amidst the older Egyptian players who opened the tournament.
Mahmoud, who is a student of engineering, was even close to his first World Cup win in his match against Abdel-Hamid Halawa. But the lead that he built up (22-13), disappeared in the closing stage of the match, when the battle ended in a marathon of 66 innings. Moreover, Mahmoud's opponent equalized from the spots: 30-30.
The World Cup in the tourist resort, where it is less crowded than in previous years due to the political situation, but where the tournament is fully booked, has been kicked off. The level was, as always on the first day, not too high, but there was tension and ambition.
Thirty points, the current distance in the qualifications, was even pretty far, most of the matches in the opening laps needed more than sixty innings. The Egyptian Mohamed El Messery and German Franz Hauer only finished at 30-23 after a 75 innings marathon match.
The Egyptians dominated the first heat, along with thirteen Germans with a nice club from Regensburg. There were six Jordanian players on the starting list, only two showed up.
,,We had to add three players from the reserve list,'' said Omar Samy, sportsdirector. The most known players on the first day? Gülsen Degener, Turkish lady player, Johann Schirmbrand and two sons of the famous Egyptian player Ihab El Messery: Ahmed and Mohamed.
Within the resort, where the matches are played in three rooms (one of four tables, two of two), billiard players and followers enjoy the holiday paradise with its wonderful swimming pools and beaches and the bright sunshine.
It'll be a long run-up to the main event, when the top players enter the tournament, on Thursday.
Torbjörn Blomdahl is the overall winner of the 2013 World Cup cycle after four tournaments. The Swede with 230 points points cannot be overtaken by his main rivals Jérémy Bury (126 points), Frédéric Caudron, Dong Koong Kang (both 122) and Filippos Kasidokostas (108).
The four previous World Cup winners this year were Blomdahl (Antalya and Peloponnese), Koong Kang (Guri) and Caudron (Medellin).
For Kozoom viewers: the internet connection in the tournament hall is not optimal on this first day. The organization is working hard to resolve this problem.