VIERSEN - The second day of the World championship for national teams in Viersen is halfway now, the Swedes and the German B team have already been sent home and all the teams have presented themselves to the audience in the Festhalle. The reigning champions, the Belgians Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron and the Turkish A-team with Lütfi Cenet and Semih Saygıner were the last in the gallery of 24 teams that started in the preliminaries. The group stage comes to an end after the Saturday sessions with the last matches at 11.00 and 13.30. Thereafter, the quarterfinals are determined, which are played at 17.00 and 20.00.
The 30th World championship in Viersen gives Thierry Gabriels reason for a small anniversary party: when Raymond Ceulemans, the all times billiards emperor, took his last world titles in his last years of international competition (2001), it was on Gabriels tables for the first time in this century. Since that year, 25 world championships were played on the originally Belgian tables, of which seventeen times at the World championships in Viersen, at the individual World championships in Luxembourg, Lausanne, Sluiskil, Lima, Antwerp and Bordeaux, the Junior World championships in Hoogeveen and the ladies WC in Tokyo .
Back to the World championship in Viersen: the sensation at the start of the second day came from the match between France and South Korea. With Greece, they make up the hardest group of the tournament. The French lost 2-0 to Greece, on Thursday, but both Jérémy Bury and Jérôme Barbeillon lost with high averages: Bury 2.105, Barbeillon 1.480. ,,We still believed in our chances'', Bury said later, after he and his teammate Barbeillon showed their power against Korea and won by the maximum score.
Jérémy Bury made the gap against HaengJik Kim in the eleventh inning with a run of fourteen, that lifted the score from 18-12 to 32-12 and was decisive for the match: 40-23 in 19. Jérôme Barbeillon, an amazing team player, defeated the second Korean, Jae Guen Kim with 40-34 in 23 innings. That predicts a thrilling showdown on Saturday when Greece and the South Koreans meet.
The Belgian world champion was - as expected - never in problems against Luxembourg. Frédéric Caudron could finish much earlier after 32-12 in 15 against Briere, but finished it of 40-17 in 21. Eddy Merckx started with an easy job against Hamm 40-13 in 30.
Semih Saygıner started really great against Rui Costa with a run of twelve and a 23-5 score after seven innings. He took in the first win for the team with 40-12 in 14, an excellent match for the champion of his country. Lütfi Cenet took some time to settle down, find his rhythm and then beat Mario Aranha 40-29 in 37.
The Dutch team and Germany A team had a relatively easy start. Dick Jaspers and Jean van Erp met two Norwegian opponents they had never seen before. ,,They are very nice guys'', said Jaspers with an amiable smile. At the billiard table, they couldn't keep up. Jaspers defeated Lars Harald Riiber 40-8 in 22 innings, Van Erp, after a strong start and a lesser finish, beat Gazi Özcan 40-12 in 28 innings.
The Germans had a slow start against Switzerland: Martin Horn allowed Cetin Behzat to balance until 13-13, but then slowly ran away and won 40-34 in 28. Stefan Galla was never in trouble, while playing a poor average against Pierre-Alain Reich: 40-19 in 47.
Marco Zanetti keeps the tension alive in the group with Denmark and Belgium B, where Italy is ready with its preliminary rounds and has a total of two match points thanks to Zanetti's two wins. For the group win, the Danes and Belgians (B-team) have the best chances.
Raymond Ceulemans and his wife Angèle are supporters for the Belgian team in Viersen
Eddy Merckx was never in trouble in the first round
Lütfi Cenet and Semih Sayginer, first victories for one of the top favorites
The Danish team played a draw against Italy and will battle it out with Belgium B
Martin Horn, a solid win to start the show in Viersen
The two Koreans HaengJik Kim and Jae Guen Kim had a poor start against France