SEOUL - In the country of South Korea, where according to a recent survey, 12 of 52 million inhabitants consider billiards their number one sport, this year's fourth World Cup gets underway on Monday. The South Koreans welcome the world's top three cushion players to Seoul, which with its thousands of active players and halls is the world's billiards mecca. Although the Koreans have no players in the top ten of the world rankings at this stage: Haeng Jik Kim, Jung Han Hewo, Sung Won Choi and Jun Tae Kim are the numbers 13, 14, 15 and 16, the young talent Myung Woo Cho is at 19 after his military stop. Dutchman Dick Jaspers is the sovereign leader after three World Cups this year, of which he won two (Ankara and Las Vegas), the last World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City was won by Eddy Merckx.
The World Cup, in the national training centre Taereung in Seoul, is the 18th in South Korea after the first in 1991 where Raymond Ceulemans won. Since then, a host of famous winners have come and gone in the country where about three years ago the PBA emerged as a competitor to the UMB, but despite its big plans (tournaments around the world) is experiencing a status quo at home. The global attention is almost exclusively focused on the UMB tournaments with, among others, the World Cups as the spearheads on the calendar. The Korean World Cup will be followed later on this year by Veghel and Sharm El Sheikh, two strongholds of name and fame in three cushion.
The best 14 players in the ranking will show up in Seoul, in order: Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez, Marco Zanetti, Tran Quyet Chien, Sameh Sidhom, Eddy Merckx, Tayfun Tasdemir, Jérémy Bury, Martin Horn, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Semih Sayginer, Murat Naci Coklu, Haeng-jik Kim and Jung-han Heo. The top players start on Friday for the main draw (26 August) in groups of four, together with the three wildcards Luis Martinez (Colombia), Chang-hoon Seo (Korea) and Dong-ryong Kim (Korea).
Of the 149 players, with the start on Monday with the first pre rounds, 41 are Korean, 29 Vietnamese and 10 Japanese, so more than half are from Asia. Most represented outside Asia is Turkey with 21 participants, including the young European star Burak Hashas. For the Netherlands, Joris van 't Zelfden, the young national champion, who was never in South Korea before, plays this World Cup, for the Italians their junior champion Alessio D'Agata, for the Germans Simon Blondeel is one of the players on the opening day. Mario Mercader is the youngest Spaniard in the field. Therese Klompenhouwer is the most seasoned player in the ladies, Jieun Han the young Korean talent.
On Monday, 22 August, Joris van 't Zelfden will come into action on the first day, playing at 15.30 and 18.30 (European time) against two Koreans, Hyung Kon Kim and Jin Youl Kim. For the Germans, Simon Blondeel and Marcel Back open the tournament.
On Tuesday, 16-year old Burak Hashas makes his debut in a group with young Dutchman Joey de Kok. Also on Tuesday: Mario Mercader. On the third day, for the Belgians Wesley de Jaeger enters the tournament. And Alessio D'Agata and Sam van Etten, who have been in South Korea for some weeks as preparation. The most interesting match that third day is between the two Turkish brothers Omer and Berkay Karakurt. Therese Klompenhouwer and Volkan Cetin also enter the tournament. Other known players on Wednesday: Gwendal Maréchal, Ahmet Alp, Ja in Kang, Ji Hun Ahn, Lukas Stamm, Dustin Jäschke and Cengiz Karaca.
The last qualification, on Thursday, is the exciting entrance of players who have a shot at the main tournament, such as Myung-Woo Cho, Jun Tae Kim, Lütfi Cenet, Jose Juan Garcia, Pedro Gonzalez, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Sung Won Choi, Choong Bok Lee, Roland Forthomme, Peter Ceulemans, Jeffrey Jorissen, Duc Anh Chien, Ronny Lindemann and Gökhan Salman.
On Friday (26 August) the main tournament starts with eight groups of 4 players. The first matches with the seeded players:
Dick Jaspers-Luis Martinez
Dani Sánchez-Chang Hoon Seo
Marco Zanetti-qualifier
Jung Han Heo-Dong Ryong Kim
Quyet Chien Tran-Haeng Jik Kim
Sameh Sidhom-Murat Naci Coklu
Eddy Merckx-Semih Sayginer
Tayfun Tasdemir-Torbjörn Blomdahl
Martin Horn-Jérémy Bury.
The time in South Korea is 7 hours ahead of Western Europe. For Europe, the matches start at 4.00 on the first three days and end around 15.00 in the afternoon. On Thursday for the final qualifying day and Friday for the group stage with groups of 4, the games start at 3 am. On Saturday the round of 16 starts at 4.30 with the games to 50 points. Sunday is the semi-finals and final.
The points of this World Cup replace those of Guri 2019 where Eddy Merckx won, so the Belgian player loses 80 ranking points. Jérémy Bury defends 54 points, Tayfun Tasdemir and Jun-tae Kim 36.