3-Cushion
HURGHADA - Who would not want it in his World Cup: a top billing with more than a handful of world class players in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
1 Eddy Merckx against Dick Jaspers, the world champion against the dethroned world champion, two players with a rich history, the numbers one and two in their Belgian team BC Deurne.
2 Frédéric Caudron against Marco Zanetti, two former world champions, two players with an incredible honor roll, the numbers one and two in the successful French Agipi team.
3 Filippos Kasidokostas against Lütfi Cenet, a Greek/Turkish clash with the European champion as favorite for the win.
4 And Jérémy Bury against Murat Naci Coklu, two players, maybe in the shadow of the great champions so far, but both world class players as well.
And the last game even started with an incident: Jérémy Bury did not meet the dress code (the top button of his shirt not closed).
Farouk Barki, the sports director of the UMB, stepped into the arena before the match to not let the game start. He ordered the Frenchman to close the shirt, but Bury refused. The incident was followed by a long discussion.
The match could start on the explicit condition that Bury tomorrow (in the semifinal) will show up in the prescribed dress.
The audience was ready for a spectacular session, with so many top players in the arena and so much emotion before and after.
Filippos Kasidokostas and Lútfi Cenet faced each other in a tough and stressfull match, which exploded at the moment that the referee announced a carom for Cenet in the fourth set, but according to Kasidokostas and a lot of people in the stands it was a miss.
The verbal fight, during the match, continued later outside the playing room, but already during the match it was clear that both players are not the best friends.
Lüutfi Cenet won the game 3-2 after 15-7 in the final set in six innings. The incident with the dubious carom took place in the fourth set, which was won by Cenet 15-14.
Cenet said later: ,,Kasidokostas asked me to go outside after the match. I said sorry to him for what I did, but he did not want to accept it.''
Dick Jaspers then was already taking his dinner after an unexpectedly simple victory over Eddy Merkx (3-1). The Belgian, who never's looking for apologizes, but apparently did not show up fit, won one set (the second) 15-3 and scored only 17 times in the other three sets.
Frédéric Caudron flattened his way to the finish in his match against Marco Zanetti. The Belgian reproached himself later that he had failed to finish in the first set (15-14 for Zanetti) and therefore was designated to chase.
,,I felt a lot better than the day before,'' he said later. ,,We all know that matches against Marco are always special. So I was very much alive from the start. Nevertheless I I lost the fourth set, because Marco was extremely strong in that part of the match. But in the fifth, I could easily finish.''
The scores in the prestige game: 14-15 (9), 15-4 (8), 15-7 (out of 8), 6-15, 15-7.
Jérémy Bury won his match against Murat Naci Coklu with ease, despite all the commotion before the match. The Turk could only fight back in the third set, in all the other sets the Frenchman ruled sovereign.
Bury said about the incident: ,,They ordered me to show up in the semifinal with the shirt closed around my neck. That will be difficult, because I only have two of the same shirts and the top button can not be closed. I cannot understand this. I play like this for ten years now, because otherwise I can not move when I lay on the billiard. And I never heard anyone complaining. Now they tell me this before the quarterfinals and forbid me to play.''
The semi-finals for tomrrow (11.00):
Jérémy Bury-Lütfi Cenet
Dick Jaspers-Frédéric Caudron