SANTA CRUZ - Who will step on top of the podium, celebrated as the new champion at the World championship three cushion, next week in Santa Cruz, Bolivia? According to a long, sometimes interrupted tradition, the top five players of the world ranking are the most widely regarded as big contenders. We're talking about Dani Sánchez, the ruling world champion and world's number one, Haeng-Jik Kim, the rising star from the far east, Dick Jaspers, always feared in the main tournaments, Torbjörn Blomdahl, the most celebrated champion of the current generation and Marco Zanetti, the lion who can unexpectedly strike despite his gray manes.
But honestly, who can speak about top favorites in the present era, in which three cushion makes such a rapid progress. What about Murat Naci Coklu, who has been in top form for weeks, or one of the other Asians, such as Sung-Won Choi and Jae-Ho Cho, or Frédéric Caudron, who was back after a minor period with a final place in the World Cup in La Baule. Don't forget never-say-never Eddy Merckx, at his best if there are big titles to win, or Nikos Polychronopoulos, the hurricane from Greece. And wasn't Eddy Leppens, the whimsical Belgian, on stage at the Worlds in Bordeaux last year?
The most desirable title, which Dani Sánchez has cherished for a year, will give the winner among the 48 players a separate status in global billiards. Certainly in the coming period, when high-level talks are held about the long-awaited turn-out in three cushion. The voice of the new world champion for sure will count. Torbjörn Blomdahl said, when he won the World Cup in La Baule one week ago: ,,The future of our sport is at stake, let's hope that we leave a wonderful product for the young generation coming after us.''
At the final ceremony of the last World Cup, Farouk Barki, president of the World Federation UMB, was talking about major plans: ,,We will try, more than ever, to receive an Olympic status starting in Paris 2024.'' The World championship in Bolivia, from Wednesday 8 to Sunday November 12th, is the stage to show three cushion in all its glory to the sports world, like in Bordeaux over the past two years, the entourage, the crowded stands with billiard lovers from all over the world and the huge media attention, leading three cushion to a new dimension.
The new World championship is in Santa Cruz (or Santa Cruz de la Sierra), the most populous city and the heart and capital of the department. Santa Cruz is considered to be the most economically prosperous city in the country. Unlike La Paz and the other major Bolivian cities, high in the Andes, Santa Cruz, with 2 million inhabitants, is at an altitude of 416 meters. The climate is tropical. Santa Cruz is known for its exciting nightlife and is a base for a wide range of exciting tourist attractions.
The 48 participants at the WC are:
Dani Sánchez, the world champion
Sixteen world ranking players
Thirteen players of CEB (Europe)
Eight players from CPB (America)
Six ACBC players (Asia)
Two players from the ACC (Africa)
Two wildcards.
The sixteen players of the ranking following Dani Sánchez are:
Dick Jaspers, Marco Zanetti, Frédéric Caudron, Haeng-Jik Kim, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jérémy Bury, Murat Naci Coklu, Eddy Merckx, Sameh Sidhom, Jung Han Heo, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Quyet Chien Tran, Sung-Won Choi , Jae-Ho Cho and Tayfun Tasdemir.
For the first time, two of three players in sixteen poules advance to the 32-player knockout phase. The prelims start after the opening ceremony (Wednesday 11.00) and last from 12.00 on Wednesday to Friday 10 November (last matches at 11.00). The knockout rounds are launched at 14.00. The eighth finals are from Friday 11.00, the quarter finals on Saturday from 14.00, the semi finals on Sunday at 12.00 and 14.00, the final at 17.00.
The group format:
Group A:
Dani Sánchez (Spa)
Tonny Carlsen (Den)
Christian Rudolph (Ger)
Group B:
Dick Jaspers (Neth)
Erick Tellez (CR)
Sakai Nobuyasu (Jap)
Group C:
Marco Zanetti (Ita)
Dionisis Tsokantas (Gr)
Jose Luis Bleichner (Bol)
Group D:
Frédéric Caudron (Bel)
Huberney Cataño (Col)
Guido Sacco (Pe)
Group E:
Haeng-Jik Kim (Kor)
Arnim Kahofer (Aus)
Jin Pyo Hong (Kor)
Group F:
Torbjörn Blomdahl (Swe)
Javier Teran (Ec)
Fernando Diaz (Col)
Group G:
Nikos Polychronopooulos (Gr)
David Martinez (Spa)
Jan Hudak (Cz)
Group H:
Jérémy Bury (Fr)
Dinh Nai Ngo (Viet)
Hyun Min Seo (Kor)
Group I:
Murat Naci Coklu (Tur)
Jérôme Barbeillon (Fra)
Glenn Hofman (Neth)
Group J:
Eddy Merckx (Bel)
Can Capak (Tur)
Carlos Zarate (Arg)
Group K:
Sameh Sidhom (Egy)
Riad Nady (Egy)
David Pennör (Swe)
Group L:
Jung-Han Heo (Kor)
Anh Vu Duong (Viet)
Emilio Sciacca (Ita)
Group M:
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Viet)
Pedro Piedrabuena (USA)
Juan Carlos Cartagena (Bol)
Group N:
Quyet Chien Tran (Viet)
Minh Cam Ma (Viet)
Javier Vera (Mex)
Group O:
Sung-Won Choi (Kor)
Eddy Leppens (Bel)
Jesus Salazar (Bol)
Group P:
Jae-Ho Cho (Kor)
Tayfun Tasdemir (Tur)
Amilcar Tapia (Bol).
The world podium in Bordeaux last year: Dani Sánchez, Haeng-Jik Kim, Eddy Leppens and Semih Sayginer
The city of Santa Cruz in Bolivia with its 2 million inhabitants
The ten last world champions:
2007, Cuenca: Ryuji Umeda (Japan)
2008, St. Wendel: Marco Zanetti (Italy)
2009, Lausanne: Filipos Kasidokostas (Greece)
2010, Sluiskil: Dani Sánchez (Spain)
2011, Lima: Dick Jaspers (Netherlands)
2012, Porto: Eddy Merckx (Belgium)
2013, Antwerpen: Frédéric Caudron (Belgium)
2014, Seoul: Sung-Won Choi (Korea)
2015, Bordeaux: Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden)
2016, Bordeaux: Dani Sánchez (Spain).
Raymond Ceulemans, the all time champion
Record holders world titles:
1 Raymond Ceulemans, Belgium: 21
2 Torbjörn Blomdahl, Sweden: 6
3 Dani Sánchez, Spain: 4
4 en 5: Dick Jaspers, Netherlands: 3
Hendrik Robijns, Netherlands: 3.
Time difference with Europe is five hours (11.00 in Bolivia is 16.00 in Europe).
Tournament director is Mr. Jos Luis Zambrana, sportsdirector Mr. Farouk Barki, delegees Mr. Carlos Rivera, Mr. Julio Crispin en technical delegee Mr. Fernando Requena.
Kozoom took the flight to Bolivia on Sunday with a routined team to broadcast all the matches from the prelims het he finals.
Two world top three players: Dani Sánchez and Dick Jaspers
Haeng-Jik Kim, last year's number 2 at the Worlds in Bordeaux