LUXOR - The 47-year old Belgian Eddy Merckx has triumphed in Luxor along the Nile, taking the second World Cup of the year. He improved his position on the world ranking by this victory and climbed from fifth to second place. Torbjörn Blomdahl, eliminated in the first round in Luxor, stays in the lead. On the final day with three Europeans and one Asian, Merckx first defeated Korean Jae Ho Cho and in the final the Frenchman Jérémy Bury 40-30 in 23. The world top is leaving Luxor after a tournament in which many reputations fell to pieces and other contenders and sup top players entered the spotlights.
How do you win a World Cup, never having been in trouble? Eddy Merckx demonstrated it this week in Luxor with a series of five matches in which he was sovereign, leading to the sixth World Cup victory in his career. The Belgian only had to go full speed when the young Korean HaengJik Kim threatened him close to the finish. It was the sign for a final shot, in which Merckx attacked and overtook his opponent with runs of seven and four (40-36 in 25). The two times world champion then successively passed the Turk Ahmet Alp (40-23 in 23), the Korean Jae Ho Cho (40-27 in 20) and finally defeated Jérémy Bury, who was chasing his first World Cup victory, only to give it a silver shine like he did in two previous finals.
The decision in the final match unrolled when Merckx started his rush to the title right after the break with a run of eight to a 27-22 lead and definitively ran away with the final knockout: a seven in the twentieth inning, of which the last point was a majestic, full speed long-long-long cushion (38-27). His opponent got one more chance in the equalizer at 40-28, but made an invisible touché after two points, when he almost ran out of time.
Eddy Merckx felt like a fish in the water of the Nile this week. He explained afterwards how he had spent the week and worked towards the climax. ,,I've been to the swimming pool a few times, certainly made no cultural trips, went to see some matches and took my rest: an early sleep and no silly things.''
He is widely feared for that, Eddy Merckx, as a professional top player: his concentration is unperturbable, he is a paragon of character and resilience, showing his fighting spirit under all circumstances. The Belgian: ,,I told some of my friends this week that I really feel good these weeks, but I can't give an explanation for that. There's always a time that you play good and sometimes even better. The peak here in Luxor came right on time. The win is important, of course, but to rise in the world rankings is fantastic. I feel happy to be among all the star players.''
The second 2016 World Cup lost its top three already after one day: Torbjörn Blomdahl was outplayed by Lütfi Cenet, Dick Jaspers by Nikos Polychronopoulos and Dani Sánchez by Quoc Nguyen Nguyen. Frédéric Caudron went out in the next round after he first survived seven match balls against Dong Koong Kang.
The top ten was under pressure: only Merckx kept up his momentum, when threatened by the Turks (Cenet, Alp, Tüzül) and Koreans. The Belgian outplayed Jae Ho Cho in the semis 40-27, Jérémy Bury bested Polychronopoulos after he ran 12 when the score was 24-24 (40-30 in 23). Jérémy Bury's return on top in a World Cup, Nikos Polychronopoulos and the last Korean contender Jae Ho Cho's strong showing led to a special podium on the final match day. With a great winner and champion, who remained, as always, very cool under the cheers of his fans.
The Belgian finished with the highest average (1.801). Ahmet Alp, who replaced Filippos Kasidokostas, made the highest run of 17.
For the next World Cup, the world top moves to Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (16-22 May).
Eddy Merckx for his last points in the final against Jérémy Bury
Jérémy Bury, closing his eyes after a miss in the final
The final ranking:
1 Eddy Merckx 1.801-12
2 Jérémy Bury 1.739-12
3 Nikos Polychronopoulos 1.764-14
3 Jae Ho Cho 1.470-10
5 Dong Koong Kang 1.666-8
6 Quoc Nguyen Nguyen 1.605-8
7 Lütfi Cenet 1.575-10
8 Ahmet Alp 1.320-17
9 Frédéric Caudron 1.638-11
10 Murat Tüzül 1.538-9
11 Chi Yeon Cho 1.526-7
12 Haengjik Kim 1.499-12
13 Javier Palazón 1.293-8
14 Tayfun Tasdemir 1.288-5
15 Jung Han Heo 1.208-8
16 Pedro Piedrabuena 1.068-9
17 Dani Sánchez 1.384-6
18 Jose Juan Garcia 1.357-7
19 Quyet Chien Tran 1.347-5
20 Dick Jaspers 1.318-6.
The new ranking:
1) Torbjörn Blomdahl 368 (-)
2) Eddy Merckx 351 (+3)
3) Frédéric Caudron 290 (+1)
4) Daniel Sanchez 281 (-2)
5) Tayfun Tasdemir 272 (+1)
6) Dick Jaspers 269 (-3)
7) Marco Zanetti 198 (-)
8) Jae Ho Cho 186 (+2)
9) Roland Forthomme 184 (-1)
10) Sameh Sidhom 184 (-1)
11) Dong Koong Kang 177 (-)
12) Tran Quyet Chien 157 (-)
13) Nikos Polychronopoulos 138 (+10)
14) Murat Naci Coklu 137 (+1)
15) Pedro Piedrabuena 134 (-1)
16) Riad Nady 134 (+1)
17) Jérémy Bury 133 (+14)
18) Jung Han Heo 127 (-5)
19) Lütfi Cenet 124 (+5)
20) Haeng-Jik Kim 123 (+2)
21) Sung-Won Choï 114 (-3)
22) Adnan Yüksel 105 (-1)
23) Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 104 (+9)
24) Eddy Leppens 104 (-5)
25) Cho Chi Yeon 100 (+4)
26) Huberney Catano 99 (-1)
27) Choong-Bok Lee 97 (-7)
28) Semih Sayginer 95 (-2)
29) Ma Xuan Cuong 87 (+6)
30) Hyung Bum Hwang 85 (-14)
Eddy Merckx in a rare moment of doubt during his semi-final match
Jérémy Bury: how is it possible that I missed this point
Nikos Polychronopoulos and Jérémy Bury for the draw to start the semi-finals
Eddy Merckx and Jae Ho Cho before the semifinal
Jae Ho Cho, outplayed by Eddy Merckx in the semis
Nikos Polychronopoulos's effort to escape in his match with Jérémy Bury
Haengjik Kim and Dani Sánchez watch the final matches in the stands