3-Cushion
LUXOR - The winner of the last World Cup, the first of the year, is already out in Luxor. Jae Ho Cho was beaten by Eddy Merckx in a match that was decided by only two points. The coming man from Vietnam, Quyet Chien Tran from Ho Chi Minh City, tormented Marco Zanetti (40-17 in 18).
Sung-Won Choi was the best day winner (40 in 13) and the top ten of the rankings lost already four players after one day: Kyung Roul Kim, Marco Zanetti, Jérémy Bury and Jae Ho Cho.
The Vietnamese Tran demonstrated the reputation he has built up in the world circuit recently. The 31-year-old number one in his country's ranking could dominate the match against Zanetti, as he did in previous World Cups against Sánchez and Bury.
Torbjörn Blomdahl would not have played his world average record in Peloponnese, if he was outplayed by the very young looking Vietnamese in the quarterfinals. The match ended in a narrow escape. Quyet Chien Tran, who has no trainer/coach in his country, forced the maestro to a draw, but lost in penalty shots 3-2.
Marco Zanetti now also knows the power of the player who is married, father of one daughter, who practices at least six hours per day. He's still learning billiards every day, reading books and watching videos.
Dani Sánchez won the Yamani Cup in Tokyo for the fourth time in eight participations this week, including a 40 caroms match in nine innings. The World Cup in Luxor is one of the most important tournaments in his career so far.
,,I'm obliged to win a lot of points, otherwise I will drop out of the top twelve of the ranks'', said the Spaniard, who lost many points when he missed two tournaments due to a stomach surgery. Sánchez overwhelmed his oponent, Lütfi Cenet, in his first match, which he won 40-23 in 17 innings.
Kyung Roul Kim's position in the top ten seems to be in danger as well, now that the biggest of the Koreans stumbled in the first round over Nikos Polychronopoulos.
The smallest player in the country, Hyung Bum Hwang, is making a rapid advance. He bulldozed Dane Claus Foge, who may return home with a 40-21 in 19 innings score to play the Danish championship for teams this weekend.
Torbjörn Blomdahl bested the second and last Egyptian in the main tournament. After Sameh Sidhom (loss against Caudron) was down for the count, the veteran Ragay Henry was throne for the lions with a 40-12 defeat in 26 innings.
Sung-Won Choi, showing a very good form from the start, notched up a superb win in his match against the sick world traveler Daniel Reyes, who entered the World Cup with a wildcard and may return to Venezuela, disillusioned, to tell his friends about the tremendous level in a World Cup.
Dong Koong Kang defeated the great unknown, the Turkish qualifier Emrullah Basemgez 40-20 in 25, what means that there are still four Koreans left to continue the battle for the title.
And Murat Naci Coklu, to close the day, dashed to victory in his duel with Jérémy Bury, rewarded for his fighting spirit at the end of the match: 40-28 in 29 innings.
The matches for tomorrow in the second round, starting at 11.00:
Caudron - Tasdemir
De Bruijn - Jaspers
Polychronopoulos - Choi
Hwang - Kasidokostas
Tran - Lee
Merckx - Kang
Sánchez - Coklu
Blomdahl - Ngo.