WONJU - The top prize in the Five&Six Grand Prix event for teams with four players was won by Torbjörn Blomdahl and his three teammates. They defeated Eddy Merckx's team 120-74 in 75 (1.578/0.986) in the final. The winners were rewarded with 12 million Korean won, is 9,000 euros, the losing finalist received 6,000 euros. Completing the podium are the teams of Jun Tae Kim and Sameh Sidhom. Torbjörn Blomdahl himself remained unbeaten over the entire tournament with three match wins in the preliminary rounds, one in the quarterfinals, one semifinal and finally the final match, in which he beat Eddy Merckx 41-18 in 16 in the team leaders' match (2,562 for Blomdahl, series of 10). In addition to Torbjörn Blomdahl, the winners' team included a Vietnamese (TTT Nguyen), an American (Pedro Piedrabuena) and a Korean (Wan Young Choi).
Wan Young Choi also made a strong impression: he was fourth man in the team who scored a lot of points and, among others, won in the final against Japanese lady Noriko Fukao 35-10 in 22. Only Dion Nelin was a strong pawn for Merckx's team in the final, who took a lead 31-19 with small runs over TTT Nguyen and eventually won 31-23.
The winners had a comfortable lead throughout the match. The Blomdahl team quickly left the Merckx team with intervals of 49-24. 71-39, 91-58, 115-71 and finally by 120-74. The frontrunner Blomdahl went to a 36-16 lead against Merckx with a run of 10 and laid the foundation for his team's victory. The overall team passed the 100-point mark at a score 100-62.
Semifinals:
The final sprint of Eddy Merckx and Dion Nelin in the penultimate stage of the Grand Prix was decisive for a spectacular win over Jun Tae Kim's team. The Belgian and the Dane turned the score around with runs of 4 and 7 in the match for the semifinals, making Merckx and his team finalists against Torbjörn Blomdahl's team after winning 120-115. Torbjörn Blomdahl won the other semifinal with his team against Sameh Sidhom: 120-112 in 72 innings.
The final stage in the match between the Eddy Merckx team and Jun Tae Kim and his team had an erratic ending. The Korean, who played with Jose Juan Garcia, Burak Hashas and Therese Klompenhouwer, had a comfortable lead (103-88) towards the end, but succumbed to the pressure where Merckx and Nelin, on the contrary, had a flashy final sprint. Merckx eventually won against Jun Tae Kim 28-23 in 21 and Nelin defeated JJ Garcia, who took an early lead with a run of 10 (27-15), but lost the match by Nelin's late runs 43-40 in 22. And because Hashas lost his match to Hwang (31-19 in 24), Therese Klompenhouwer was the only winner for Jun Tae Kim's team: she won 31-19 in 24 against Japan's Fukao.
Torbjörn Blomdahl (with TTT Nguyen, Pedro Piedrabuena and Wan Young Choi) had already qualified for the final earlier in the match against Sameh Sidhom's team. The maestro himself showed the form with which he has been shining all tournament. Torbjörn beat Sameh Sidhom 38-24 in 18 innings and had an important share in the team win with that 14 points margin. TTT Nguyen and Sung won Choi remained nicely balanced (31-29 in 17), Pedro Piedrabuena gave away 15 points against Huberney Cataño (35-20 in 16), but Wan Young Choi kept the advantage for Team Blomdahl by winning 31-24 against Kwang Hyun Kim.
Quarterfinals:
Team Blomdahl-Team HJ Kim:
120-92 (81)
The leader himself scored the most points for his team in the match against Haeng Jik Kim, which Blomdahl won 39-34 in 15 (2,600). TTT Nguyen is a good winner against Ruben Legazpi 31-11 in 25, Pedro Piedrabuena has to bow to Jose Miguel Soares (23-19 in 20) and Wan Young Choi is strong for his team with a win over Hyung Kon Kim with 31-24 in 22.
Team Sidhom-Team Tasdemir:
120-94 (85)
Sameh Sidhom and Tayfun Tasdemir play an evenly matched match, eventually won by Sidhom 34-32 in 21. Sung Won Choi decides in Sidhom's favor by inflicting his first loss on Myung Woo Cho: 31-24 in 22. Hugo Cataño proves his class, beating Mahmoud Auyman with 32-18 in 19 and Kwang Hyun Kim wins against Jieu Han with 23-20 in 23.
Team Jun Tae Kim-Team Zanetti:
120-94 (101)
The difference at the finish line is ample. Jun Tae Kim already remains 10 points ahead of Marco Zanetti in the battle between them (31-21 in 22) and Jose Juan Garcia raises the score against Cha by 41-22 in 31. Burak Hashas suffers his first defeat in the match against Sam van Etten 36-23 in 21 (1.714 for the Dutchman), after which Therese Klompenhouwer finishes it off against her good friend Mujde Karakasli with 25-15 in 28.
Team Merckx-Team Polychronopoulos:
120-116 (87)
Four point difference is the score at the end. Eddy Merckx is the stunning captain of his team by beating Polychronopoulos 41-27 in 13 (3,307). Dion Nelin squanders the lead against Choong Bok Lee by losing 35-23 in 23, Bong Joo Hwang beats Son 39-16, Jung Hee Lee wins against the lady in the Merckx team. Noriko Fukao loses 38-15 in 25.
Tomorrow, Monday, the individual tournament starts in Wonju with 48 players divided into 6 teams of 8 players. The group formats are:
Group A:
Dick Jaspers, Myung Woo Cho, Ga Yeon Jang, Jun Tae Kim, Kwang Hyun Kim, Bong Joo Hwang, Pedro Piedrabuena, TTT Nguyen,
Group B:
Dani Sánchez, Sung won Choi, Nhi Hoangyen Nguyen, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jung Hee Lee, Jin Youl Kim, Jose Miguel Soares, Chang Hoon Seo,
Group C:
Tayfun Tasdemir, Jung Han Heo, Jose Juan Garcia, Burak Hashas, Sam van Etten, Noriko Fukao, Jung Han Heo, Wan Young Choi
Group D:
Torbjörn Blomdahl, Haeng Jik Kim, Huberney Cataño, Choong Bok Lee, Myeong Jong Cha, Dong Ryong Kim, Takao Miyashita, Mujde Karakasli,
Group E:
Sameh Sidhom, Quyet Chien Tran, Dion Nelin, Ruben Legazpi, Hyung Kon Kim, Jieun Han, Alessio D'Agata, Mahmoud Ayman,
Group F:
Marco Zanetti, Eddy Merckx, Duc Anh Chien Nguyen, Pedro Gonzalez, Therese Klompenhouwer, Nikolaus Kogelbauer, Jun Hyuk Son, Su Yeong Park.
The Blomdahl team during the ceremony
The Eddy Merckx team in second place with Dion Nelin, Noriko Fukao and Bong Joo Hwang
Torbjörn Blomdahl, unbeaten in all his matches
Eddy Merckx, strong performance, only a loss in the final
Dion Nelin, the only winner in Merckx' team in the final match
Pedro Piedrabuena
Therese Klompenhouwer won all her matches against the ladies in the event