ISTANBUL - The Swede Torbjörn Blomdahl is with four wins in the last four World Cups in Istanbul the most outstanding player in the billiard history of the Turkish city with its 13 million inhabitants. He bested in four out of six tournaments famous players like Raymond Ceulemans, Semih Sayginer and Frédéric Caudron.
The top players will arrive in the coming days in the former city of Constantinople. Today, Monday, some of the big guns show up in the Belgian team league, with the match between BC Deurne (Jaspers and Merckx ) and De Goeie Queue (Caudron and Leppens) as eye catcher.
The preliminary rounds of the World Cup in Istanbul, played in Bahcelievler Siyavuspasa Sports Center (four billiard tables in the main hall, the other six tables in another room) have been started. The number three in the world ladies championship, Japanese Namiko Hayashi and number two in the European championship, Dutch Karina Jetten, are remarkable players on the opening day.
The Turkish city with its rich history and Swedish top gun Torbjörn Blomdahl are an inherent part in the World Cup cycle. He was winner in four out of six tournaments, including the last four in a row: 1995, 1996, 2005 and 2006.
It's the seventh time that the major Turkish city is hosting the Word Cup circus. The first winner, in 1993, was the American Korean Sang Lee, who defeated Raymond Ceulemans in the finals. One year later (1994) Dick Jaspers won ahead of Raymond Ceulemans. Blomdahl was for the first time on the podium with a bronze medal.
The Swede started his winning streak in 1995 with a victory against Raymond Ceulemans and with Frédéric Caudron and Raimond Burgman on stage. The second Swedish victory was in 1996, ahead of Tonny Carlsen, Dick Jaspers was third.
When the World Cup returned to Istanbul after nine years, it seemed like the time had stood still: Torbjörn Blomdahl grabbed the win again, beating Frédéric Caudron in the finals. Jean Paul de Bruijn and Tayfun Tasdemir were on the podium as third and fourth. Blomdahl 's last victory was in 2006 in a final against Semih Sayginer. Martin Horn and Tayfun Tasdemir were on stage.
The big question at the start of this first World Cup in 2014 is: is the Swede strong enough to continue this incredible victory series? He belongs to the list of favorites coming into the main tournament which starts off on Friday. And of course, looking forward to the entire World Cup cycle this year: who will be the overall winner. Torbjörn Blomdahl defends his title (!).
The best starter on opening day, in the PPQ qualifications, was the Turk Levent Özcöglü with 30 in 17 innings, the worst winner was Belgian Walter Bossaerts 30 in 79 innings. The Belgian junior champion Andy Bond felt at home at the tables with 30 in 22 innings against Pavlos Kikrilis. The young Turkish talent Berkay Karakurt won his match in 24 innings.