SCHILTIGHEIM – Have you followed the developments in international 3-cushion these past weeks? I bet you did. You must now be aware of the fact – in these weeks leading up to the final of the Agipi 2013 – that Eddy Merckx in Belgium and Torbjörn Blomdahl in Sweden have both lost their national titles.
Frédéric Caudron did win the X-mas tournament in Holland, but the Belgian title has eluded him for several years now.
Jérémy Bury won yet another tournament in France, his third in a cycle of four. Frans van Kuyk ran a 20 in Belgium, this Monday…and Eddy Merckx showed fantastic form playing well over two average. Roland Forthomme is back in town: he took the title in Belgium, beating Eddy Leppens in the final.
Dick Jaspers now and then showed glimpses of his world class, as he did in the Bundesliga: 40 in 11 innings.
Torbjörn Blomdahl did lose the final of the Swedish Nationals, but it was a high-class match with both players over 2 average.
Frédéric Caudron has refound his 3-cushion form, as he showed in the league. In a Kozoom interview, he admits that it is not easy to play marathons of balkline and 1-cushion in the Belgian nationals, and then switch back to 3-cushion.
If ever anyone had a valid excuse, this would be the one.
The Belgian, one of the quickest players on the tour, advocates a stricter timerule. ,,I would not object to a 30 second limit’’, says Caudron. ,,It is time we start thinking about the audience.’’
Interesting remarks in the days leading up to the Agipi Masters, the tournament where all the top players meet to select the final 8 contenders in the final. Twenty players have been invited fort hat selection, which will take place in two weekends.
Filippos Kasidokostas and Torbjörn Blomdahl will have the chance to warm up on thursday evening, before the ten players in two flights start their qualifications. The Greek and the Swede will play a league match in advance, where Blomdahl’s Laxou (with Horn) will meet Kasidokostas’ Andernos (with Jaspers).
Two of the four will travel straight to the Agipi arena: title holder Blomdahl is in a flight with Kasidokostas, Marco Zanetti, Tayfun Tasdemir and Jean-Christophe Roux. The other flight has Dani Sánchez, Kyung-Roul Kim, Murat Naci Coklu, Nikos Polychronopoulos and Jae Ho Cho.
Two very interesting groups; the nrs. 1 and 2 will qualify for the final.
At first glance, the foursome that competes with Blomdahl for those coveted final places is fractionally stronger. Frenchman Roux, who was very solid in the prelims, must be called the outsider here.
But two from these four: Blomdahl, Zanetti, Kasidokostas and Tasdemir will advance, two must go home. That promises to be a tooth and nail fight.
Dani Sánchez returns to the arena where he lived mostly disappointing moments. Nevertheless, he is the main contender for a place in the final. Kyung-Roul Kim was not only last year’s finalist, he was also a new crowd favorite with his victory dance and un-Korean primal scream at the end of every interview.
Murat Naci Coklu showed splendid form in Hurghada, and was unlucky to be eliminated by Jérémy Bury in a match that did not start off well: the bow-tie incident.
Nikos Polychronopoulos is always a dark horse, and so is Jae Ho Cho, one of the feared “big five” of Korean 3-cushion.
The flights for the first weekend with 10 players:
Flight 1:
Torbjörn Blomdahl, Filippos Kasidokostas, Marco Zanetti, Tayfun Tasdemir, Jean Christophe Roux.
Flight 2:
Dani Sánchez, Kyung-Roul Kim, Murat Naci Coklu, Jae Ho Cho, Nikos Polychronopoulos.
The schedule for the first weekend:
Friday 25 januari:
14.00 uur:
Filippos Kasidokostas-Tayfun Tasdemir
Marco Zanetti-Jean Christophe Roux
17.00:
Kyung-Roul Kim-Jae Ho Cho
Murat Naci Coklu-Nikos Polychronopoulos
20.30:
Filippos Kasidokostas-Marco Zanetti
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Jean Christophe Roux
Saturday 26 januar:
10.00:
Daniel Sánchez-Jae Ho Cho
Kyung-Roul Kim-Nikos Polychronopoulos
14.00:
Blomdahl-Tasdemir
Kasidokostas-Roux
17.00:
Kim-Coklu
Sánchez-Polychronopoulos
20.30:
Blomdahl-Zanetti
Tasdemir-Roux
Sunday 27 januari:
10.00:
Sánchez-Coklu
Cho-Polychronopoulos
14.00:
Blomdahl-Kasidokostas
Zanetti-Tasdemir
17.00:
Kim-Sánchez
Cho-Coklu.