HURGHADA - He won his first world title in Caïro, on April 5, 1987. This weekend he returns to the country where he achieved his first big success: Torbjörn Blomdahl, who turns fifty next year, is still an undisputed top player in three-cushion. The Swede is even the leader in the World Cup cycle, with one event to go, before Frédéric Caudron and Dani Sánchez.
In the World Cup of Hurghada he was playing from the very first year. He won one final against Martin Horn and lost two finals: against Marco Zanetti and Jef Philipoom.
Torbjörn Blomdahl hasn't been away from top of three-cushion, as many people said. ,,I didn't win that much like before in recent years. The World Cup cycle I won for the last time in 2007. Dick Jaspers and Frédéric Caudron are better players than I am now. Technically better, they hit the balls better, have a better sense of tempo and play higher averages. My highest level was around 2000, I think, when I could play nearly two average over a whole season. But there always will be an end to such an era, you can see in all disciplines of the sport. There will be a time when Usain Bolt can't run any faster, we had a pistol shooter in Sweden, Ragnar Skanaker, who always kept winning in all the Olympic Games, until the day that he was old and he was defeated.''
The farewell as a top player, nevertheless is still a long way off. Torbjörn Blomdahl won the World Cup in Suwon and played the final in Vienna against Frédéric Caudron. The Swede is therefore the leader and most important candidate to win the overall World Cup. The last tournament is in Hurghada this weekend.
,,It will be a struggle between Frédéric Caudron, me and perhaps even Dani Sánchez. I'm in the same schedule as Caudron, that means for me that I must beat him in the semifinals. If we both come that far, if he beats me in the semi-finals and wins the tournament, Caudron will be the overall winner. So I know what to do: win all my matches until the final.''
The Swede looks unharmed again after having a major surgery on his teeth on November 10 in Backnang. ,,I had a bicycle accident when I was a little boy, so I've lost two of my front teeth. I had a prosthesis, in which two teeth were put. These tooth have been removed now, but first they had to remove some bone from the gums to provide a basis on which the implant can be applied later. I received a provisional prosthesis now: in February they will see ief the bone is properly grown. And then they will bring in the implant.''
Two or three days, his face was swollen, he explains. ,,I didn't shave myself for one week, because the swollen side of my face looked green and yellow. There were 25 stitches in my mouth. And when I sneezed, it seemed like I had an open fracture. But I have all the confidence that it will be good. We have a famous clinic in Backnang where people come from far to get this type of surgery.''
Torbjörn Blomdahl is ready for his last trick of the year. He is eager, ambitious, has been particularly felt comfortable after the champion team in the Netherlands had decided not to participate in the competition. ,,The traveling became more and more wearily for me, I didn't like it anymore to drive up and down for a match every Sunday. It happened many times that I almost fell asleep after ten kilometers in the car. I haven't missed it at all, it seemed like a load felt from my shoulders after we had decided to retire. And now, I don't think that we will return in the league with this team. The only chance that it will happen, is that our sponsor of Van Donge en De Roo decides to come back with Dick, Martin, Jean and me in the team. But for the time being, I don't think so. And further, nobody called me so far, I didn't receive any offer.''
,,I don't mind'', he says, ,,because billiard is not a team sport, like football or basketball. It's an individual sport. I would prefer to play ten or fifteen individual tournaments in a year. We only played for a team to earn money. I play in France for Laxou, because I like the competition very much and I play for a very nice team, with young players, with whom we train together, Martin Horn and me. And I play in Germany and in Porto, because I doesn't cost me too much time. Sometimes I look at the results of the Dutch league, but on the other hand, I feel better now. We have just made a tour for Kika childrens foundation with the champions team, which has raised six thousand euros. It was great to do that. But a comeback with the team in the league, will not happen again. I already know that the KNBB is going to say that we have to play 22 Sundays and willn't get a day off, for example to play the Agipi Masters or other tournaments.''
The three cushion itself will never be boring for Torbjörn Blomdahl, although he plays at the top his whole life. ,,I'm thinking of billiards almost every hour of the day and I still can practice for five hours per day. I feel more like a professional player when I can practice a whole day instead of being on my way for three days to play a match. I walk through my house, thinking about positions, about different kind of points, certain shots, then I walk to billiard and work it out. Billiard is such a wonderful and amazing sport, it never gets boring.''
If he will win the overall World Cup, this weekend, he hasn't taken it by suprise or with a little luck. ,,I was not so lucky with the draws this year. Twice against Jaspers, twice against Kang, one of the best Koreans this year, twice against Cho, one time against Merckx, against Caudron. But actually, there are no easy opponents in the World Cup anymore. It's so different now than, let's say, five or ten years ago. The Koreans has stormed the top, Filipos Kasidokostas and Jérémy Bury are much better now, the Belgians are collectively so strong. And South Americans like Robinson Morales and Julian Morales are dangerous, as we have seen in the World Cup in Vienna.'
The three cushion has changed spectacular, has improved itself and is very fascinating now. Ten years ago, I didn't really watch lots of matches, now it's wonderful to see a match between two top players. Most of the time you can see tactical matches with a lot of technical highlights. I don't see new solutions, directly, as we saw with Semih Sayginer, but a different way of performing. The Koreans are attacking the small shots with a lot of speed sometimes, the game is played in a completely different way than we did for years, very fascinating to watch.''
That brings him to the story of the the rules who are planned to implement by the international federations. Torbjörn Blomdahl is a strong pleader for the system of fifty points, like all top players. He also wants to agree with the current system in the World Cups, to three winning sets of fifteen in the main tournament. But he's a fearce opponent when they talk about shortening the matches, for instance to forty points. ,,It's very bad for the sport and the players.''
,,When we look at snooker, the system is: the more important the matches, the closer to the finals, the longer the games. It would be bad if we decide to finish the matches as soon as possible. As the system is now, we always see that the best players are on top at the end of tournament. All tournaments are won by top players. The quality must be on stage, not a random winner. I hope we will not become the victims of the innovations in our sport.''