LAS VEGAS - The run-up to the final qualifiers in Las Vegas World Cup brought some strong Vietnamese to the frontline of whom Phuong Vinh Bao was the most notable player. There were four of them among the best seven of the day. The ranking was led by Ja In Kang, the Korean who played competition in the Netherlands and Germany for some years, with four match points and the best average: 1.714. The Americans had one more player, Carlos Mario Villegas in the final field, for the Netherlands, Volkan Cetin was the only surviver, he was 16th and last in two exhilarating games: winning and losing 30-29. Robinson Morales even achieved the highest average of all players (1.916 by winning one match 30 in 9), but could not qualify for the next round due to a loss in his next match.
Phuong Vinh Bao, a 28-year-old Vietnamese, who studied economics in Australia but has been a professional billiard player for a year, faces Peter Ceulemans and Chang Hoon Seo in his group for today, Wednesday. The Vietnamese, who lives in Binh Duong, 25 kilometers away from Ho Chi Minh, started his career at 18 years old. Six months ago was his absolute highlight: in the Seoul World Cup, in the round with the best 32, he first defeated Tayfun Tasdemir and then also Torbjörn Blomdahl, making him group winner and eliminating Tasdemir, the world champion. Bao also beat Peter Ceulemans 40-37 in that tournament. The Belgian has been warned for a formidable opponent this Wednesday on the fourth day.
Ja In Kang, Berkay Karakurt, Turgay Orak, Huberney Cataño and Rui Manuel Costa were the most famous group winners on the third day. Two renowned South Americans could not survive. Robinson Morales, who plays for Spain, started with a spectacular win over Muammer Rahmet (30-8 in 9), but then lost in a mediocre match to Quang Hao Truong (30-16 in 15) and was eliminated as runner-up in his group. Peru's Ramon Rodriguez, once a big player in the global top, lost to Villegas, won to Szivacz, but was eliminated as number two in his group. For Luis Aveiga of Ecuador, the tournament ended with two losses against Thomas Andersen, the group winner and Seung Kwon Hong. Rui Costa and David Pennör fought a nice battle for qualification, the Portuguese winning 30-22 in 16.
Sam van Etten, the promising Dutch youngster, was eliminated by Phuong Vinh Bao 30-21 in 18, for the Netherlands, Huub Wilkowski (2 points, 0.942), Joey de Kok (1 point, 0.915) also went out, only Volkan Cetin, an aid worker with his Turkish parents during the earthquakes, slipped through the preliminaries on average (2 points, 1.092).
The rankings on Tuesday (penultimate qualification):
1 Ja In Kang 4-1,714-8
2 Van Ly Dao 4-1,538-12
3 Berkay Karakurt 4-1,538-9
4 Turgay Orak 4-1,428-7
5 Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1,363-11
6 Hong Chiem Thai 4-1,333-10
7 Quang Hao Truong 4-1,224-8
8 Sung Il Jeong 4-1,200-7
9 Rui Manuel Costa 4-1,111-6
10 Carlos Mario Villegas 4-1,071-7
11 Thomas Andersen 4-1,052-5
12 Mehmet Goren 4-0,967-7
13 Ugur Oktorvaci 4-0.909-6
14 Huberney Cataño 3-1,224-6
15 Bong Joo Hwang 2-1,256-5
16 Volkan Cetin 2-1,092-9
Ja In Kang, the day winner
Robinson Morales
Ramon Rodriguez
Huberney Cataño
The 12 groups for the final qualifiers (to 40 points, group winners and 3 best numbers 2 to main tournament)
Pool A: Ugur Oktorvaci, Mehmet Goren, Martin Horn
Pool B: Huberney Cataño, Thomas Andersen, Jun Tae Kim
Pool C: Choong Bok Lee, Bong Joo Hwang, Carlos Mario Villegas
Pool D: Volkan Cetin, Sung Won Choi, Rui Manuel Costa
Pool E: Gerhard Kostistansky, Sung Il Jeong, Ruben Legazpi
Pool F: Trung Hau Do Nguyen, Dion Nelin, Quang Hao Truong
Pool G: Duc Anh Chien Nguyen, Hong Chiem Thai, Jacob Sörensen
Pool H: Peter Ceulemans, Phuong Vinh Bao, Chang Hoon Seo
Pool I: Murat Naci Coklu, Turgay Orak, Jeffrey Jorissen
Pool J: Lütfi Cenet, Berkay Karakurt, Pedro Gonzalez
Pool K: Jose Juan Garcia, Van Ly Dao, Roland Forthomme
Pool L: Myeong Jong Cha, Ja In Kang, Michael Nilsson.