SHARM EL SHEIKH – The third day at the World Cup in Sharm El Sheikh was a day for second last final qualifying round. Gwendal Maréchal was the top-ranked player following Colombian Jose Juan Garcia, Mikaël Devogelaere finished impressively in the top 5, and Maxime Panaia and Pierre Soumagne were among the 15 players out of a total of 16 with full 4 match points. The only player with one victory as group winner was Japan's Atsushi Kiyota. Averages are rising sharply, with Gwendal Maréchal having the highest daily run of 14.
Like the French, the Turks had four players at the top of the rankings, including young Seymen Ozbas, who finished fourth behind Garcia, Maréchal, and Kahofer.
Nguyen Chi Long was one of the stars of the day, winning a match of 35 in 15 innings against Gerhard Kostistansky. Pierre Soumagne didn't have the best start for the French, winning 35-34 to Abu Tayeh, but bounced back with an excellent win against Kapusiz, 35-14 in 17 innings. Jose Juan Garcia excelled consistently against Ali Ibraimov and Claus Maurer in 22 and 20 innings, respectively.
Ahmet Alp won his qualifying match against David Pennör in the final group match, 35-16 in 17 innings. Arnim Kahofer won his two matches in 23 innings, finishing with a respectable average of 1.521.
Gwendal Maréchal and Mikaël Devogelaere were the top two French winners, scoring 1.521 and 1.489. Ali Ibraimov, Mehmet Goren, and Fatih Korkmaz were close on average. Ibraimov won his two matches 35-25 and 35-33.
The Dutch players, who started with six players on this third day of the preliminary rounds, saw only Jean Paul de Bruijn high up in the rankings with 4 match points and an average of 1.458.
The final standings in the groups on Tuesday:
Group A:
Nguyen Chi Long 4-1,458-7
Gerhard Kostistansky 2-1.127-5
Reggy Brouwers 0-0.707-3
Group B:
Pierre Soumagne 4-1.111-9
Ufuk Kapusiz 2-1.042-7
Mashhour Abu Tayeh 0-0.802-5
Group C:
Jean Paul de Bruijn 4-1.458-7
Francesco Orlando 2-0.881-5
Lucas Egert 0-0.905-6
Group D:
Jose Juan Garcia 4-1,666-9
Claus Maurer 1-0.900-8
Ali Ibraimov 1-0.854-5
Group E:
Dimitrios Seleventas 4-1.372-6
Vangelis Moulos 2-1.050-9
Ahmed Abdallah 0-0.844-7
Group F:
Tom Lowe 4-1,129-5
Jose Miguel Soares 2-0.810-4
Mohamed Sabry 0-0.700-4
Group G:
Ahmet Alp 4-1.372-5
David Pennör 2-1.020-6
Vedat Akyol 0-0.358-3
Group H:
Arnim Kahofer 4-1.521-7
Radek Novak 1-1.071-5
Takeshima O 1-1.035-7
Group I:
Birol Uymaz 4-1,400-7
Ahmet Malkadi 2-0.833-5
Jordy de Kruijf 0-0.720-5
Group J:
Mikaël Devogelaere 4-1.489-8
Volkan Cetin 2-0.950-4
Ivo Gazdos 0-0.945-7
Group K:
Gwendal Maréchal 4-1.521-14
Tarik Yavuz 2-1.173-6
Manolis Minaoglu 0-0.980-6
Group L:
Serdar Bas 4-1.206-7
Jose Maria Mas 2-1.051-6
Muammer Rahmet 0-1,125-6
Group M:
Amir Ibraimov 4-1,272-6
Mehmet Goren 2-1.152-6
Fatih Korkmaz 0-1,000-6
Group N:
Seymen Ozbas 4-1.489-10
Huub Wilkowski 2-0.881-4
Alan Saeys 0-0.534-4
Group O:
Maxime Panaia 4-1.272-6
Quoc Thuan Pham 2-0.828-5
Joey de Kok 0-1,047-7
Group P:
Atsushi Kiyota 2-0.983-8
Beom Yeol Lee 2-0.967-4
Lukas Stamm 2-0.771-8
Jose Juan Garcia
Jean Paul de Bruijn
Maxime Panaia
Mikael Devogelaere
Seymen Ozbas
The group draw for Wednesday (group winners and best 3 numbers 2 placed):
Group A: Maxime Panaia, Serdar Bas, Haeng Jik Kim
Group B: Tom Löwe, Amir Ibraimov, Phuong Vinh Bao
Group C: Pierre Soumagne, Ahmet Alp, Peter Ceulemans
Group D: Hong Chiem Thai, Atsushi Kiyota, Dimitrios Seleventas
Group E: Glenn Hofman, Sam van Etten, Birol Uymaz
Group F: Yes In Kang, Jean Paul de Bruijn, Ruben Legazpi
Group G: Nick Polychronopoulos, Hoon Chang Seo, Nguyen Chi Long
Group H: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Turgay Orak, Mikaël Devogelaere
Group I: Rui Manuel Costa, Seymen Ozbas, Myeong Jong Cha
Group J: Jeffrey Jorissen, Arnim Kahofer, Roland Forthomme
Group K: Bong Joo Hwang, Gökhan Salman, Gwendal Maréchal
Group L: Omer Karakurt, Jose Juan Garcia, Sergio Jimenez.