ANAN – The Turkish players Lütfi Cenet, in his first year with the PBA, and Birol Uymaz have made it to the last eight of the Silkroad Ansan tournament. Lütfi Cenet eliminated Spaniard Javier Palazón on late night, in the last match of the day, after a strong set win 11-7 and a final run of five in the decisive fifth set. Birol Uymaz defeated his compatriot Savas Bulut in an even more exciting match.
The two Turks conceded nothing in their mutual match, in which Uymaz won the first set 15-8, Bulut the second and third set 15-11 and 15-12, Uymaz the fourth 15-6 and the fifth set 11-10 in four innings, after Bulut had missed the match point.
The tournament continues this Sunday with the best eight, with Frédéric Caudron as one of the big contenders after his victory over Sang Pil Eom 3-1 and 1.606 average (set scores 15-7, 8-15, 15-9 and 15-12). Caudron's next opponent is Ji-hoon Sun. Caudron escaped in his match against Do-young Ko, who led 2-1 and started with 13 in the decisive set. Caudron levelled the score, winning that set and the third for the overall win.
Savas Bulut eliminated two compatriots, Adnan Yüksen and Can Capak before being eliminated by Birol Uymaz 11-10 in the deciding set.
Eddy Leppens had to bow to Hyun-min Seo, a former winner, in a thrilling match. The two players fought it out in a fifth set, which was won by Seo 15-11: averages 1.250 for Seo, 1.227 for Leppens.
The quarter-finals:
Frédéric Caudron-Ji-hoon Sun
Minh Cam Ma-Hyun-min Seo
Kwang-yeol Park-Birol Uymaz
In-su Park-Lütfi Cenet
Sruong Pheavy and Hyun-ji Jong play the ladies' final after victories over Jung-suk Lim (3-0) and Ji-eun Kang (3-1). Pheavy, who like Lim previously won 3 PBA tournaments, and was on his way to be Therese Klompenhouwer’s main rival in the UMB competition, showed again that she is the undisputed star player in the Ladies PBA. She is the only Cambodian in a field of many Koreans and four Japanese ladies.
Sruong Pheavy can win her 4th PBA event