SEOUL - The Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran and Korean Choong-Bok Lee are the star players so far in the preliminaries at the LG U + Masters in Seoul. The two players, who are not among the top twelve in the world ranking, are the major contenders for the group win. The Spaniard Dani Sánchez lost his chance to reach the semi-final. The strong Korean Jung Han Heo is also out for a significant role.
Quyet Chien Tran launched his performance in Seoul like a rocket and won his two matches against Pedro Piedrabuena and Myung Woo Cho in sixteen and seventeen innings, averaging the best of all: 2.424. He almost paved his way to group win. Choong Bok Lee defeated both Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez and now tops the flight with four match points and 2.102 average.
The highlights on the second day were the superb performance of Tran again when he outplayed the disappointing Myung Woo Cho with a final run of nine. Choong Bok Lee also showed an excellent final sprint with seven. Pedro Piedrabuena recovered from a poor start and shone with a fifteen-run, which stumbled on one carom from the finish. The rather unknown Korean Jin-Pyo Hong is the surprising leader in the group with only Korean players.
Group A:
Jae Guen Kim dominated the last part of the match against Jung Han Heo after a similar upward start. The Korean brother twist ended with Heo's second loss, making him out of chance for the win. Jae Guen Kim finished 40-33 in 20 innings, the short match is important for the further course.
Frédéric Caudron had much more troubles to beat Hyung Kon Kim. In the final phase, the match could go eather way, but Caudron was cool blooded at the end, while Kim fet the tension in the last innings. The Belgian triumphed 40-38 in 28 innings.
With only one round to go, Jae Guen Kim leads with 2.162 average, Caudron has 1.777.
The matches for the last round:
Frédéric Caudron-Jung Han Heo
Jae Guen Kim-Hyung-Kon Kim.
Group B:
Torbjörn Blomdahl was fighting for his last chance against HaengJik Kim and took a quick lead, 23-7 in 9 innings. The victory came within reach, but the Swede needed five more innings for his last two caroms: 40-28 in 25.
That could be important in the final round, because Choong-Bok Lee is the big contender for the group win. He defeated - after his victory over Blomdahl - also a second world top player, Dani Sánchez, with a run of eleven midway and a final run of seven: 40-36 in 23 innings.
Choong Bok Lee leads with two points and 2.105 followed by Blomdahl with two points and 1.550 and HaengJik Kim, two points and 1.545. Sánchez is out of the game.
The matches for Thursday:
Choong Bok Lee-Haeng-Jik Kim
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Dani Sánchez.
Group C:
Quyet Chien Tran is the revelation of the tournament so far. After his first match in sixteen innings against Piedrabuena, the Vietnamese dealt with the young Myung Woo Cho, who is far below his recent World Cup level, on the second day. Tran won 40-16 in 17 innings and is therefore almost out of reach for his competitors. Pedro Piedrabuena found his form after 24-24 in 24 innings against Sameh Sidhom with a marvellous 15-run. The American won 40-27 in 29.
The matches for Thursday:
Quyet Chien Tran-Sameh Sidhom
Pedro Piedrabuena-Myung Woo Cho
Pedro Piedrabuena, marvelous 15-run, almost to the finish
Young talent Myung Woo Cho couldn's shine after his starring role in the World Cups
Group D:
The Korean group is not dominated by Sung-Won Choi, the former world champion, not by Dong Koong Kang, last year's winner in the LG U + Cup and not by Jae Ho Cho, a renowned top twelve player, but by Jin Pyo Hong. The rather unknown guy defeated both Dong Koong Kang in the first round and Jae Ho Cho on the second day, 40-26 in 20 innings. The battle for the group win is still open after Kang's victory over Choi 40-in 29 in 24 innings. Hong and Choi almost certainly play for the top position tomorrow.
The matches:
Sung-Won Choi Jin-Pyo Hong
Dong Koong Kang Jae Ho Cho
Jin-Pyo Hong, on top in the group with four Koreans
One of the stylish referees in the tournament