VIERSEN – The Saturday evening at the World Three-Cushion Team championships in Viersen concluded with a sparkling performance in front of a packed stadium. Three Scotch doubles, sorts of jump-offs, were needed in the bustling German arena to determine four final teams. The tension reached a fever pitch when the Germans reached the finals as the fourth and final team. The Swedes, the Vietnamese, and the Colombians will compete alongside the host country for World gold this Sunday.
The semifinals:
Sunday 11:00: Vietnam-Sweden
Sunday 13.00: Germany-Colombia
Sunday 16.00: Final
The final session this Saturday, after Vietnam and Sweden were already among the winners, was a true battle of attrition. The Scotch double was played at two tables, with four players at each table, in a jump-off to 15 caroms. The climax, with Germany vs. Spain and Colombia vs. Netherlands, proved a memorable spectacle.
The Germans and Spaniards achieved a Scotch double with wins by Martin Horn over Ruben Legazpi (40-38 in 20) and Sergio Jimenez over Amir Ibraimov (40-37 in 38). The Dutch and Colombians achieved a double with wins by Dick Jaspers over Pedro Gonzalez (40-24 in 20) and Huberney Cataño over Glenn Hofman (40-35 in 24).
The final match captivated the many viewers in the stands and online until the very final caroms.
The Germans trailed Spain 9-1, but were able to close the gap and take their first lead at 11-10. The final score was 13-10, 14-11, and finally, the young talent Amir Ibraimov made the winning carom. The young German scored and fell into the arms of his teammate Martin Horn.
The Dutch team had a difficult start against the Colombians, but launched their first attack with a 9-5 lead. The Colombians fought back and took a 10-13 lead, but the Netherlands went or the first match point at 14-13. Glenn Hofman went to the table for the winning point, but in the immense tension, he first let his cue ball polished. He then played a flawless ball up and down, the cue ball appeared to carom off, but miraculously missed the object ball. The Colombians closed the gap to 14-14, and Cataño also had his cue ball polished before the match point. The South American went for a tough ball, but played perfectly out of the kiss and scored the winning point.
The other two matches:
Vietnam-Turkey 4-0
The minimal difference from the group stage also manifested itself in the quarterfinal match. Turkey's top-ranked team in Group A, after a fantastic final match against Japan, and Vietnam's second-ranked team in Group B put on a thrilling battle. Tayfun Tasdemir started with 8 points against Quyet Chien Tran, but lost the lead after 10 innings (23-25). Tasdemir launched his attack with 6 points for 32-29, while Tran had the better final shot with 6, 4, and finally 1 point for 40-35 in 15 innings (2.666).
TTT Nguyen claimed victory in the other match against Berkay Karakurt with a better start (21-8) and a better finish (from 28-32 down with small runs to 40-37).
Sweden-USA 2-2
The Swedes relied on the formidable Torbjörn Blomdahl, who, at 17-12 in 10 innings, first attacked with 5 and then with 14 in the 13th inning to 37-13. The match was decided on that score and ended 40-14 in 16. Pedro Piedrabuena, like Blomdahl, untouchable, leveled the score with a victory over David Pennör 40-28 in 30 innings and, like Blomdahl, with a run of 14.
The Scotch doubles had to also determine the winner in the Sweden-USA match. Blomdahl and Pennör ran a run from 8 to 13-5, they finally won 15-12 in 9. That made Vietnam and Sweden the first semifinalists.
Preliminary rounds, final groups:
The Turks became the group winners in Group A thanks to a final victory over Japan, 4-0. Tasdemir finished in 13 innings, Karakurt in 14, good for a game average of 2.962. Germany won Group B, beating Mexico 4-0 in its final match. Vietnam and France drew, with victories for Quyet Chien Tran and Mikaël Devogelaere.
The Germans Amir Ibraimov and Martin Horn reached the semi finals
Torbjörn Blomdahl and David Pennör hungry for more succes with Sweden
Quyet Chien Tran
Huberney Cataño knocked down the Dutch team after a miraculous miss