HOCHIMINH - The world nr. 1, Torbjörn Blomdahl, has never set foot there. He makes his first ever trip to Vietnam next week, to play the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), a metropolis with 9 million people. The Vietnamese look forward to the event and 55 of them have inscribed to make a bid for glory. ,,I expect a high quality tournament'', says the Swede. ,,The Vietnamese have been on the rise for a few years now, they are technically skilled and have formidable focus. That's a combination which makes them dangerous opponents.''
The World Cup in Ho Chi Minh City (10 to 16 August) is the third one this season, following Luxor (won by Dick Jaspers) and Porto (won by Torbjörn Blomdahl). For the Vietnamese federation, this is their debut as world cup organizers. Many European players are fearful of the heat and the humidity. Blomdahl: ,,I checked, and it is as warm as it is in Backnang, where I live, with 50 % humidity. I don't see it as a problem.''
The Vietnamese have climbed the ranking in the past years, with a number of talented players. Quyet Chien Tran is the best, on 20th position, followed by Quoc Nguyen Nguyen on 23 and Anh Vu Duong on 32. There are eight Vietnamese players in the top 100.
Torbjörn Blomdahl travelled from New York to his native country, to visit his father Lennart and to attend a Lenny Kravitz concert. ,,My holidays consist of sleeping, running and swimming, but I did bring my cue to get some practice done before I go.'' Looking back on the New York tournament: ,,I was happy with my performance, except maybe for a few small mistakes against Tasdemir. It is nothing new for Dick to play this well, the only thing different is that he can win tournaments again. That is good for Dick and good for billiards.''
Frédéric Caudron has already travelled to South Korea to handle sponsorship matters, play demonstrations and practice. Other top players take a brief vacation. Eddy Merckx: ,,We don't have that many days off, my wife has her holiday now so we spend a week at the Belgian coast.''
The Turks have just played a big Grand Prix event (won by Tasdemit) and so have the Vietnamese (won by Vinh The Ly), and the Koreans played the Zanca tournament (won by Hyung Gon Kim).
Haeng Jik Kim, the Asian champion, did not play the Zanca event and will not play in Ho Chi Minh city either. He will probably be back for the Guri World Cup. The Korean is currently finishing his last months of military service, and then he will be back in the international arena.
The top twelve of seeded players in Vietnam is lead by Torbjörn Blomdahl, Sung-Won Choi, Eddy Merckx, Dick Jaspers and Frédéric Caudron, followed by Jae Ho Cho, Marco Zanetti, Dani Sánchez, Dong Koong Kang, Roland Forthomme, Tayfun Tasdemir and Jean Paul de Bruijn. The wildcards were awarded to Ramon Rodriguez, Jérémy Bury, Sameh Sidhom, Quyet Chien Tran and Quoc Nguyen Nguyen.
Hyung Bum Hwang result in Porto has put him into the top 12 at the expense of Jae Ho Cho, but that change does not yet affect the Ho Chi Minh city World Cup. The situation is tense in the top 12, because Frédéric Caudron, in fifth place now, will lose 80 important points. The players on 10, 11 and 12 (Roland Forthomme, Tayfun Tasdemir and JP de Bruijn) will feel the pressure from the contenders that are in close pursuit: Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jae Ho Cho, Haeng Jik Kim and Sameh Sidhom.
Korean Hyung Bum Hwang has stormed into the top 12.
The Ho Chi Minh event will start on Monday 10 August with the pre-qualifications, mostly local and Korean players, but also Dutchman Volkan Cetin and Frenchman Johny Vascone. Japanese Namiko Hayashi will play on Tuesday, as will Dutchmen Wim van den Berg, Raymon Groot and Joke Breur and Egyptians Ahmet Emam and Ismail El Habrouk.
The better known Vietnamese players, such as Vinh Ly The, Nguyen Trung Hau Do, Minh Cam Ma, Turks Semih Sayginer and Birol Uymaz and Koreans Young Chull Kim, Ra Hee Kim, Tae Soo Lim and Durk Hee Hwang and Japanese O Takeshima will start their matches on Wednesday.
Thursday will be the last day of qualifications, with Hyung Bum Hwang, Jung Han Heo, Lütfi Cenet, Eddy Leppens, Murat Naci Coklu, Adnan Yüksel, Chi Yeon Cho, Pedro Piedrabuena, Xuan Cuong Ma, Murat Tüzül, Hyung Kon Kim, Dinh Nai Ngo, Tolgahan Kiraz, Tatsuo Arai, Arnim Kahofer, Anh Vu Duong and Choong-Bok Lee all trying for a place in the main draw.
The top 12 for the main draw:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl, 2 Sung-Won Choi, 3 Eddy Merckx, 4 Dick Jaspers, 5 Frédéric Caudron, 6 Jae Ho Cho, 7 Marco Zanetti, 8 Dani Sánchez, 9 Dong Koong Kang, 10 Roland Forthomme, 11 Tayfun Tasdemir, 12 Jean Paul de Bruijn.
The time difference with Western Europe is five hours, which is what Vietnam is ahead of us.
Kozoom will stream all the matches live.
Quyet Chien Tran is one of Vietnam's best players