Therese: only gold is good enough for me

TOKYO – Two days of sightseeing, hanging around, sleep long hours to get rid of the jetlag. Those were the days of the ladies who arrived in Tokyo earlier in the week, for the 4th World Championship which will start tomorrow (Wednesday, 11.00 local time) at 03.00 Central European Time.

The Kasumi Plaza hall in Chiyoda Ku, Tokyo, is ready, Ryuji Umeda, the tournament director and his organization are looking forward to the start, and for the sixteen ladies, the tournament in Japan will be the number one event in their sport.

,,Only gold is good enough for me'', says Therese Klompenhouwer, the Dutch ace who does not want to pile on additional pressure, but mainly exudes confidence. The signs were impressive: on the Dutch ladies ch’ship the multiple European champion had two matches over 2 average (30 in 14 and 30 in 13), demonstrating her class in the final.

Will it be Therese against the rest?

That would not do justice to the other Dutch players and the Japanese, especially Orie Hida, the reigning World Champion with three world titles to her name.

Dutch “Terri” may be the undisputed favorite, but she realises that the matches are short, the competition is fierce, and she’ll have to bring her A-game to win the title.

Orie Hida is the three-time world champion, and therefore the most seasoned player of them all. The Japanse won her first crown in 2004 in Valence (France) beating Gerrie Geelen in the final, with a 0.719 average, in 2006 in Hoensbroek against Therese Klompenhouwer with 0.820 and in 2008 in Sivas (Turkey) against Karina Jetten with 0.948.

Group matches are to 25 points. Nrs. 1 and 2 of the group qualify for the quarter finals.

The four groups are:

Groep A: Orie Hida (Jap), Karina Jetten (Nl), Namiko Hayashi (Jap), Kyung Hui Oh (Kor)

Groep B: Therese Klompenhouwer (Nl), Ji Hyun Park (Kor), Kazumi Hida (Jap), Monique van Hamond (Nl)

Groep C: Ester Park (USA) Gülsen Degener (Turk), Ayaka Futumoto (Jap[), Yuko Nishimoto (Jap)

Groep D: Su Ah Park (Kor), Natsumi Higashiuchu (Jap), Marianne Mortensen (Den), Helga Mitterböck (Oost).

The schedule:
Wednesday 21 November:

12.00: O. Hida-Hayashi, Jetten-Oh, Klompenhouwer-Van Hamond, JH Park-K. Hida.

14.00: E. Park-Degener, Fukumoto-Nishimoto, S. Park-Mitterböck, Higaschiuchu-Mortensen.

16.00: Groups A en B

18.00: Groups C en D

Thursday 22 November:

12.00: Groups A en B

14.00: Groups C en D

18.00: Quarter finals

Friday 23 November:

11.00: Semifinal

15.00: Final

(Time difference Local - CET: 8 hours).

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