ANKARA - Who should be the top favorite for the world junior title, became clear once again this Saturday morning. Turkey's 17-year-old defending champion Burak Hashas, one of the big talents in three-cushion, shone in the first round of the eighth finals against his compatriot Gorguc with a run of 15. That was one carom short to reach the finish, which Hashas did two innings later with 35-15 in 15 innings.
The World Championship in Ankara is the stage for a talent gala anyway as two 15-year-olds also face each other in these round. Amir Ibraimov from Germany is the youngest, Ubaldo Sanchez from Mexico just a little bit older. The German promising player, who has an older brother and father with whom he plays in the Dutch team competition, won the match after a splendid ending 35-33 in 41 innings.
The other players still under 20 are:
Marcos Morales (Spain) 18
Myeong Gyu Oh (Korea) 18
Mohamed Khaled (Egypt) 18
Daniel Sainzx Pardo (Spain) 18
Valentino Oliveto (Argentina) 19
Gancalo Santos (Portugal) 19
Dutch section chairman Paul Brekelmans delved into the ages of players these days and figured out a striking fact. The new world champion Phuong Vinh Bao passed in all stories and comments as a 28-year-old Vietnamese. That turns out to be incorrect: he was born on 31 October 1995, so he was still 27 (and still is) on the day he so sensationally grabbed the world title in Ankara.
15 year young Mexican poses for his flag in Ankara