ANTALYA - On day three of the World Cup in Antalya, the name on top of the ranking was Nguyen Dinh Anh Chien, he is one of many huge talents in the young Vietnamese billiard nation. Two Koreans were following in his shadow. Sun Woong Lee with the same match points and the same average (4, 1.621), in third was In-Won Kang, also known in three cushion circles as Eddy Merckx' opponent when the Belgian set his magisterial world record in 2011 of 50 points in six innings.
Three Asian outsiders on the global circuit, topped the rankings on the way to the final qualication round. Champions such as Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez will take action tomorrow. The Dane Dion Nelin and the Dutchman Glenn Hoffman followed shortly behind the top three, then followed by four Turks from the homeland: Murat Tüzül, Savas Bulut, Murat Celik and Serdar Bas. Tomorrow, the winners of twelve groups and three best runners up will move up to the main tournament. Then, on Friday, the opening day, a new system will be introduced: eight groups of four players, in a total of 48 matches. The best two of these eight groups advance to the knockout with sixteen.
In sixteen group winners on the penultimate day, 11 players remained unbeaten, three with three match points and two with two points: Jose Juan Garcia and David Pennör. Young Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal just missed the best sixteen and was the first on the reserve list. He won his first match against Colombian Jose Juan Garcia (30-27 in 20), but finished in the same match points (2) with Tolgahan Kiraz and Garcia. The South American was the best in average thanks to a win over Kiraz, 30-11 in 9.
The other notable final results: Savas Bulut who blocked the way for Spaniard Juan David Zapata (30-22 in 24), Murat Tüzül, the better of strong Korean Chi Yeon Cho (30-18 in 20), David Pennör, winner in the decisive match against Tsokantas, Hideaki Kobayashi, who could afford a draw against Ragay Henry, Murat Celik, winning the battle with three against Xuan Cuong Ma and Ronny Lindemann and Glenn Hofman, who made an excellent impression in his matches against Hong and Mori (30- 29 in 24 and 30-17 in 15).
The final ranking on the penultimate day of qualifications:
1 Duc Anh Chien Nguyen 4-1.621-11
2 Sun Woong Lee 4-1.621-10
3 In-Won Kang 4-1.578-11
4 Dion Nelin 4-1.578-5
5 Glenn Hofman 4-1.538-11
6 Murat Tüzül 4-1.463-7
7 Savas Bulut 4-1.428-10
8 Murat Celik 4-1.363-9
9 Serdar Bas 4-1.363-9
10 Wan Young Choi 4-1.276-5
11 Can Capak 4-1.153-8
12 Bong Chull Kim 3-1.538-6
13 Antonio Montes 3-1.333-8
14 Hideaki Kobayashi 3-1.111-8
15 Jose Juan Garcia 2-1.781-9
16 David Pennör 2-0.909-7
The group stage on Thursday in the last qualifications:
Group A: HaengJik Kim, Bong Chul Kim, Antonio Montes
Group B: Hideaki Kobayashi, Dinh Nai Ngo, Can Capak
Group C: Eddy Leppens, Jose Juan Garcia, Wan Young Choi
Group D: Dani Sánchez, David Pennör, Serdar Bas
Group E: Nikos Polychronopoulos, Riad Nady, Murat Celik
Group F: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Savas Bulut, Anh Vu Duong
Group G: Adnan Yüksel, Murat Tüzül, Minh Cam Ma
Group H: Roland Forthomme, Mohamed Abdin, Glenn Hofman
Group I: Tonny Carlsen, Dion Nelin, Javier Palazón
Group J: Dong Koong Kang, In-Won Kang, David Martinez
Group K: Myung Woo Cho, Sun Woong Lee, Robinson Morales
Group L: Martin Horn, Duc Ahn Chien Nguyen, Filippos Kasidokostas.
Sung Woong Lee, the best of the Koreans on day three
Two wins for Dutchman Glenn Hofman who made an excellent impression
Dion Nelin in top five, chasing for the final rounds
Murat Celik, one of the strong Turks in the field
Former junior champion Antonio Montes in a hard fight