LUXOR - The 61-year-old Dane Claus Føge is playing his eleventh tournament in Egypt, he survived the first round at the World Cup in Luxor today (Sunday) and outplayed among others Gülsen Degener, one of the best female players. The 43-year-old Korean player William Oh, official name Sung Kyu, plays a World Cup outside Korea for the second time and was too much for another top lady, Japanese Namiko Hayashi.
The Turk Salih Tekkeli was the best day winner with four match points and 1.224 ahead of William Oh with four points and 1.111 and Bosse Gustavsson with 0.983. Claus Føge finished fifth in the first ranking of ten winners. Ismail Yasin and Omer Karakurt will continue as the best seconds tomorrow. Nabil (Bilo), Salama, known as an excellent UMB referee who is involved with the organization of the Egyptian World Cups, had a short adventure as a substitute player. The dentist from Cairo, who turned 60 in January, couldn't match with his opponents in one poor and one better performance.
The Luxor World Cup, the second of the season, is on its way in the first qualifications. Therese Klompenhouwer, the women's world champion, reported from the Netherlands that her plane was delayed, but anyway, she was boarding some two hours later. Namiko Hayashi made a more than 20 hour trip to come to Luxor and can now join the spectators after two losses. The Japanese had a bad start, recovered well, but was defeated by William Oh, who played his best match. Oh started with 8 and won 30-25 in 21. William Oh is not unknown in the World Cup circuit: he is the manager of Kozoom Korea and visits all the tournaments in the world. He plays mostly in his own country: his best ranking was 30th in Korea. ,,I could not play for years because of my work, but from now on I will try to play all the tournaments'', he explained in Luxor.
Claus Føge is playing billiards since his twelfth year, nowadays for the Danish club Vejle. Two years ago he reached the main tournament in Luxor where he was eliminated by Hyung Bum Hwang. ,,I like to play in Egypt because of the great hospitality there. I always feel welcome'', said the Dane, who took his flight with Bosse Gustavsson in Copenhagen on Saturday and arrived in Luxor at 23.00 that night. His best results in Egypt. Victory over HaengJik Kim, Jean Reverchon, Ronny Lindemann and Riad Nady.
Best matches on the first day: William Oh in 21 innings, Salih Tekkeli in 24 and Bo Gustavsson 26. The top ten and the two reserve players who continue on Monday in the next round:
1 Salih Tekkeli 4-1.224-8
2 William Oh 4-1.111-8
3 Bo Gustavsson
4-0.983-6 4 Savas Gungor 4-0.923-6
5 Claus Foge 4-0.769-7
6 Osman Yilmaz 4-0.714-6
7 Gokhan Uludaglilar 4-0.689-4
8 Ioannis Antoniou 4-0.600-4
9 Ashraf El Araby 4-0.555-4
10 Osama Atia 4-0.372-4.
Reserves: 1 Ismail Yasin 2-0.840-5 2 Omer Karakurt 2-0.809-5 (Gulsen Degener just missed out with two match points and 0.500).
Claus Føge plays his tenth World Cup in Egypt. ,,I alsways feel welcome here.''
Salih Tekkeli, the day's number one player
Bilo's adventure as a player finished after two losses
William Oh started with eight against Hayashi
Two Egyptian referees at the World Cup in Luxor