PORTO - Even before Semih Sayginer, Murat Naci Coklu, Lütfi Cenet and Adnan Yüksel will enter the arena on the final qualifying day of the Porto World Cup, at least three other Turks demanded the spotlights. In a few hours time, there was a showcase of short and spectacular matches.
Ahmet Alp finished off Therese Klompenhouwer in nine innings (30-4), Gökhan Salman used ten against Akif Guvenmez (30-13) and Ahmet Bayatli needed eleven against Gil Carlos Cortes (30-13). Miraculously, these three Turkish morning stars were eliminated later in the day. Ahmet Alp lost on a single point to Jose Maria Mas, Ahmet Bayatli was beaten by Carlos Crespo and Gökhan Salman, who had shown so much strength, had no chance against Greek Tsokantas.
The averages took a jump on the third day of play, with Robinson Morales, Kostas Papakonstantinou, Myung Woo Cho, Kostas Kokkoris, Omer Karakurt, Ahmet Alp, Ahmet Bayatli, Gökhan Salman and Antonio Montes the most noteworthy victims of the high level of play. Therese Klompenhouwer, the ladies world champion, ran into an unstoppable Alp and was handed a 30-4 defeat. ,,Kudos to Ahmet Alp, he gave me the worst thrashing of my career'', tweeted Therese.
Murat Tüzül ended a beautiful, if a little short campaign by Antonio Montes. The Spaniards who had excelled in every round so far, still have five players active in the tournament. Ruben Legazpi (best winner of the day), Jose Maria Mas, David Martinez, Carlos Crespo and Javier Palazón are their aces in the deck. The Turks may have lost three stars, but also remain with five: Can Capak, Savas Bulut, Hakan Incekara, Murat Tüzük and Akif Guvenmez. Others in the top sixteen for Wednesday: four Vietnamese and two Koreans. A summary of Wednesday's flights:
Group A: Murat Tüzül and Antonio Montes both got out of the blocks well, with wins over Gunaydin in 21 and 30 innings. The group win needed to be decided between them. Tüzül had a lead throughout, but could not prevent Montes from equalizing in 28 innings. The Turk won the group, with three points and 1.224, three points and 1.034 to Montes.
Group B: Savas Bulut just edged Alfonso Legazpi (30-29), who did go on to beat Arnim Kahofer by a margin. The Turk again won a close finish match against the Austrian: another 30-29. ,,Those are my favorite wins'', said Bulut, who hopes to improve on his current 1.132 in the next round.
Group C: David Martinez and Kostas Kokkoris battled for the group win, after they had both beaten the disappointing Papakonstantinou. Martinez could not complain, when his Greek opponent missed the equalizer. The Spaniard, who made it to the main draw in Porto two years ago (he then lost to Semih Sayginer) was the better player in his match with Kokkoris, winning it 30-18 in 23.
Group D: Santos Oliveira, who did well in the earliest round, beat the young German Dustin Jäschke 30-29 (24), Ruben Legazpi did that too, but in 19 innings (30-23) and walked all over Oliveira in the decider: 30-11 in 15.
Group E: The strongest group of this qualifying day, with Omer Karakurt, Javier Palazón and the playful Korean teenager Myung Woo Cho. Karakurt got things going when he beat Cho (30-24 in 24), Cho then beat Palazón 30-23 (19). The decider went to Palazón, who made up for his slow start when he got the better of Karakurt: 30-23 in 16.
Group F: Sang Ku Kang was in the best position after beating Gungor Bastunali (30-9 in 22). Khaled Salem lost to Bastunali in a marathon (30-26 in 48 innings), and Sang Ku Kang finished the job when he beat Salem Salem 30-15 in 23.
Group G: Robinson Morales, one of the very best South-Americans, was in a tough battle with Juan David Zapata. The Spaniard ran a nine and was first to cross the line, but Morales equalized with two. The Colombian saw his chances disappear after his loss to Minh Cam Ma (30-26 in 17). ,,I was lacking focus so badly, that I even thought I had three time-outs instead of two'', said Morales sadly. Minh Cam Ma was the best finisher when he (barely) got past Juan David Zapata: 30-29 in 27.
Group H: Can Capak, like Robinson Morales a walking billboard with ten stickers on his vest, beat his countryman Mehmet Goren 30-23 in 17, having led 17-0 after six. An incensed Goren regrouped against Paulo Andrade (30-12 in 14). The Portuguese, who kept up until it was 20-19, could not stop Capak from reaching the next round: 30-21 in 20.
Group I: Emrullah Basegmez and Vinh Ly The, who had both beaten Korean Jung Wan Lim, played for the group win. Vinh Ly The had an outstanding start and ran twelve to take a 14-0 lead. He defended the margin well, to finish it 30-16 in 16.
Group J: Ahmet Alp beat Therese Klompenhouwer in 9 innings (best match of the day), and Jose Maria Mas in 21 innings. The Spaniard ran a four from 24-23, and closed the deal at 30-27. Ahmet Alp, who only needed a draw, still had the equalizer, but missed after two points.
Group K: Vietnamese Dinh Nai Ngo remained undefeated in his matches against Hesham Zaghloul and Vincent Lelievre. It put him into a qurtet of Vietnamese players to advance.
Group L: Carlos Crespo started with a surprising draw against Gil Carlos Cortes, who then got clobbered by Ahmet Bayatli: 30-13 in 11 innings. The fight for the group win was decided in Crespo's favor, thanks to a closing run of five. Bayatli missed his second shot in the equalizer: 30-26 in 18.
Group M: Trung Hau Do Nguyen won the final and fascinating match against Hideaki Kobayashi (30-28 in 29) and had the last laugh in this Asian group.
Group N: Gökhan Salman was the favorite in this group, after he had kicked off with a 10-inning win (30-13) over Akif Guvenmez. Dionisis Tsokantas on paper did not look like a big obstacle, but the Turkish Molinari player was not the man he had been earlier in the day. He lost 30-14 in 20 innings!
Group O: Jin Pyo Hong just made the top 10, after wins over Atsushi Koyota in 25 and Levent Okci in 23 innings.
Group P: Hakan Incekara won the pivotal match against fellow Turk Birol Uymaz (30-25 in 30) and made sure of his qualification against Fernando Tomás, 30-23 in 35.
Tomorrow (Thursday), twelve groups of three will play for twelve spots in the main draw, with the three best nrs. two also advancing. Play starts as early as 09.00 Portuguese time. Many great names, such as former world champions Sung-Won Choi and Semih Sayginer, who are in the same flight, and junior world champions Haeng Jik Kim and Jose Juan Garcia, will enter this last round. Matches are now to 40 points. Tomorrow evening, UMB president Farouk Barki will perform the draw for the main event with 32 players.
The groups for Thursday:
Group A: Jose Maria Mas, David Martinez, Murat Naci Coklu
Group B: Can Capak, Minh Cam Ma, Haeng Jik Kim
Group C: Quyet Chien Tran, Vinh The Ly, Sang Ku Kang
Group D: Ruben Legazpi, Dinh Nai Ngo, Riad Nady
Group E: Jean Paul de Bruijn, Trung Hau Do Nguyen, Jung Han Heo
Group F: Hyung Kon Kim, Jin Pyo Hong, Quoc Nguyen Nguyen
Group G: Jose Juan Garcia, Jérémy Bury, Savas Bulut
Group H: Anh Vu Duong, Hakan Incekara, Pedro Piedrabuena
Group I: Jae Guen Kim, Carlos Crespo, Lütfi Cenet
Group J: Adnan Yüksel, Murat Tüzül, Hyung Bum Hwang
Group K: Semih Sayginer, Akif Guvenmez, Sung-Won Choi
Group L: Eddy Leppens, Javier Palazón, Choong-Bok Lee.
Can Capak, one of five Turks to advance
Murat Tüzül ended the run of Montanes
Three Spanish aces in the stands
Robinson Morales is dressed like a billboard
Legazpi was the day's best winner
Alp started off with a 30 in 9, but was eliminated by J.M. Mas
Therese: "The worst thrashing in my career"