DONGHAE CITY - The reigning champion Dick Jaspers was still struggling in his first match at the World three cushion championship in Donghae City, Korea, when Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran and Italian Marco Zanetti had already closed the early evening of the opening day with a quick match. The flying start by two of the contenders made a huge impression, first of all because the two leaders had a disappointing last World Cup: both Tran and Zanetti were eliminated in the first preliminary round. The Vietnamese by Coklu and Cha, the Italian by Heo and Jorissen. That asks for revenge at the World championship, where Quyet Chien Tran, then ranked number 3, was missing in Sharm El Sheikh last year due to the COVID situation in his home country. He is eager at the start now and said shortly before his departure to Donghae: ''I practiced very hard in the week before this World championship and regained my top form very quick.'' He showed it right away in his first appearance: the best score on this first day, with a highest run of 16, was on the scoreboard against Ruben Legazpi: 40-13 in 13 innings.
Marco Zanetti, not very talkative in the days before the World championship, apparently set the tone for a strong performance. He faced Austrian Gerhard Kostistanski, who already won his first game against an unknown Egyptian, and was sublime in the final of the match: Zanetti, defending his top three position in the world, finished with 12 in a match that lasted only 14 innings: 40-13. Other strong performances on the opening day: Myung Woo Cho, winning in 16 innings, Dion Nelin in 17, Haeng Jik Kim in 18, Dani Sánchez in 19 and Michael Nilsson in 20 innings.
The most thrilling match in that session featuring the top four was the encounter between Dick Jaspers and Vietnamese Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen, nicknamed TTT. The Dutch titleholder started poorly, far below his rivals Sánchez, who won against Aveiga in 19 innings (finish by 5 and 6) and certainly not like Tran and Zanetti. Jaspers was in balance with his opponent until 20-20 and 34-34, and thought he made the final run of 6 just in time for victory. However, the cool-headed Vietnamese had the same flaming final shot: in the equalizer, TTT answered by six: 40-40 in 23.
In the field of top ten players, Semih Sayginer, Eddy Merckx and Jérémy Bury were not yet in action on the first day: they play their two group matches tomorrow. Of the other players in the field of 48, Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen (in Group A with Jaspers), Su Yeong Park (in Group E with Sidhom and De Bruijn) and Jose Juan Garcia (in Group H with Blomdahl) are the first three players who already secured qualification for the next round, the knock-out with 32 players.
Most surprising on the opening day were Torbjörn Blomdahl's lost, the last World Cup winner, against Jose Juan Garcia by 40-36 in 26 and of Sameh Sidhom, who lost against Su Yeong Park 40-26 in 24, after the Korean substitute had also beaten Jean Paul de Bruijn (40-35 in 30 innings). Jose Juan Garcia won his first match against Mexican Javier Vera 40-21 in 32 and had the better final sprint against Blomdahl. Roland Forthomme, after his win against Portuguese Soares, ran into Martin Horn in his second game, scoring just a little more than the Belgian after 28-28 in 18 innings, winning 40-38 in 25.
The battle for the top two places in the 16 groups of three players heads for a nice climax on Thursday. In Group A, for instance, the titleholder, Dick Jaspers, is sure of qualification if he wins against Gwendal Maréchal, but the Dutchman is eliminated when he loses. Dani Sánchez has the best chances in Group B, Luis Aveiga and Pedro Piedrabuena are competing for second place Marco Zanetti still plays Mohamed Abdin in Group C, the other contender for qualification is Gerhard Kostistanski. Quyet Chien Tran leads sovereignly in Group D, where Ruben Legazpi is almost certainly the runner-up for the knock-outs.
Sameh Sidhom and Jean Paul de Bruijn both lost to Korean Park in Group E. Both without match points, the Dutchman and the Egyptian are equal in average (1.167), the winner will qualify, in case of a tie, De Bruijn has a better high run. In Group F, Roland Forthomme, Martin Horn and Jose Miguel Soares are not far apart in average. Forthomme has played his two matches and has 2 match points, Horn (2 match points) and Soares (0) meet in the last game. Tayfun Tasdemir has the best papers to win Group G after his win over Chang Hoon Seo 40-34 in 22. And Jose Juan Garcia is already sure of the group win in H with 4 match points, where Blomdahl still has to qualify against Javier Vera.
For the other eight groups (I to P), only one match has been played. The battle is still completely open. The best wins in those groups so far came from Myung Woo Cho (against Myeong Jong Cha, 40-34 in 16), Dion Nelin (against Turgay Orak, 40-26 in 17), Haeng Jik Kim (against Choong Bok Lee, 40-24 in 18), Michael Nilsson (against Cengiz Karaca, 40-20 in 20).
Marco Zanetti, start with a final run of 12 in the group match
Haeng Jik Kim, promising start in the match with Choong Bok Lee
Four of a total of 9 Koreans at the start of the World Championship in Donghae City