BOGÓTA – The Dutch phenom Dick Jaspers (59) is not yet in his best form, but still will be back in the arena with the top four in the World Cup, the first of this year, in the billiard stronghold Bogóta this Sunday. Jaspers is the only player from the top of the world rankings chasing the final victory, where the No 1 will battle it out with two Turks and one Vietnamese, in order of rankings: Tayfun Tasdemir (No 10), Thanh Luc Tran (No 11) and Tolgahan Kiraz (No 13). Who among the three will stop Dick Jaspers' gold race? It's T-day in Bogóta: Tayfun, Than or Tolgahan?
Dick Jaspers is not the towering favorite for a win based on his average so far, he shows his skills as strong fighter. The Dutchman had to fight hard for his wins facing Quyet Chien Tran and Jérémy Bury on Saturday and did not play the best averages. Over five games, Jaspers scored 1.428. That is below the level he achieved, for example in his last six World Cup wins from 2022 to 2024: Seoul 2.091, Porto 1.916, Sharm El Sheikh 2.130, Veghel 2.480, Las Vegas 1.808 and Ankara 1.842.
Still, Jaspers is again the only one from the top to survive the battlefield with five wins, the last two of which this Saturday against Quyet Chien Tran (50-40) and Jérémy Bury (50-44) with the Frenchman as his biggest threat in a match that was super defensive and in which Jaspers struck with 5 in the last inning.
Thanh Luc Tran, the Vietnamese who meets Jaspers in the semi-finals, was the conqueror of Eddy Merckx on Saturday. That was his first weak moment for the Belgian, in which he had to leave Tran far ahead by 50-25 in 22/21. The Vietnamese played the highest average of the day with 2.272 and had the best run with 11 in this round.
Tolgahan Kiraz had to put up a tough fight against young Vietnamese Hong Chiem Thai, which was decided in the ultimate closing stages when the Turk finished at a score of 48-49 with 2 for 50-49 in 38. Kiraz is certainly a big contender: in his first match on Saturday, he was ruthless to Jun Tae Kim: at 38-38, Kiraz sprinted to win with 12: 50-38.
With two Turks at the table late Saturday, it was all about another place in the semi-finals. Tasdemir was the best starter against Karakurt with 3 times 5 (19-14), the high runs failed to materialize and in the end Tasdemir had the longest breath: 50-42 in 29. In the eighth final, Tasdemir beat Haeng Jik Kim 50-42 in 36, Karakurt won against Duc Minh Kam 50-26 in 20.
The semi-finals are this Sunday:
Jaspers-Tran (11.00 in Bogóta)
Tasdemir-Kiraz (13.30 in Bogóta).
Tolgahan Kiraz greets the full stands in Bogóta arena
Tayfun Tasdemir cheers his win over Berkay Karakurt
The Turkish hug in the Bogóta arena: Berkay and Tayfun
The only Asian player left: Thanh Luc Tran from Vietnam
Tolgahan Kiraz, always friendly, always laughing with the audience
Jérémy Bury, tough fight with Dick Jaspers
Eddy Merckx, a big World Cup performance, one setback in the last against Tran.