Turkish group is largest by far

HURGHADA – The last applause from the Turks came down from the stands as Murat Tüzül made his final point against Korean Dong Koong Kang. His countryman Savas Bulut had just qualified by beating Dutch stuntman Jack Wijnen, bringing the Turkish contingent to 7.

,,That is not a record'', said Tayfun Tasdemir. ,,We were once with 9 players, in Istanbul.'' Lütfi Cenet added: ,,I remember a tournament with 11 Turks.''

Anyway, they were the largest group by far, when at the end of the day the books were closed. Joining the 5 Turks from the qualifications were two Belgians, two Koreans, one Spaniard, one Dutchman and one Dane. Nikos Polychronopoulos, the best reserve, will also enter the draw, replacing Robinson Morales who has given back his ticket.

Peter Ceulemans was the best player from the final qualification day, with a general average of 2.142 over two matches, his final match against Pierre Soumagne was a lofty 2.727. The Belgian is in majestic form, he knocked out Roland Forthomme 2-0.

Eddy Leppens was second in that ranking with 1.621, ahead of Choong-Bok Lee with 1.333 and Tayfun Tasdemir with1.681, but he lost one set.

Javier Palazón made the high run (12) in his match against Markus Dömer, Peter Ceulemans ran a 10 to finish.

Jef Philipoom en Francis Forton, two Belgians who had made the trip to Egypt with high expectations, were sent to the losing groups. One of them (Forton) did play an important part in knocking out Raimond Burgman, who was left empty-handed after a 14 – 15 loss in the decider.

Savas Bulut sent home Dutch stuntman Jack Wijnen in a match of moderate quality, Can Capak sent home Vietnamese Ma, Javier Palazón got away from Markus Dömer, who had played so brilliantly in the afternoon, but was crushed by the Spaniards decisive run of 12.