ANTALYA - The world champion Dick Jaspers is firing up the ranking of players in the first 2019 World Cup this week. The 'Turkish Riviera' is the location for the first world cup event in the cycle with a new schedule. The resort, one of the most famous in the world with more than 9 million yearly visitors, opens the doors of the billiard arena Monday. The tournament lasts from February 11th-17th and is the start of the series of World Cups, which will be continued in Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam), Blankenberge (Belgium), Porto (Portugal), Veghel (Netherlands), and still to be determined a place in Korea and finally the traditional closure in Hurghada (Egypt).
The World Cup in Antalya is the 178th played since 1986. Thanks to the huge growth and rising level in three cushion, the new year in the World Cup cycle is offering fascinating tournaments once again on all fronts. Records have never been threatened so much. Frédéric Caudron won the World Cup ranking in 2018, with victories in Antalya and Porto and a record average over seven tournaments, 2.176. Dick Jaspers closed the year as the world champion and number one on the world ranking, followed by the Belgians Caudron and Merckx. Jaspers won the World Cup in Blankenberge and Somabay, the other three winners were Quyet Chien Tran (Ho Chi Minh), Eddy Merckx (Seoul) and Martin Horn (La Baule).
Four of seven major World Cups in 2018, with the 32 players in the main draw, recorded the fantastic average of 1.700, an absolute record. The huge progression in the top of the rankings included a drop in the top 14 ranking for four famous players. Dani Sánchez (number 18), Haeng-Jik Kim (15), Nikos Polychronopoulos (19) and Torbjörn Blomdahl (20) have to show up in the qualifications on Thursday for a place in the main event.
The World Cups are played according to the new playing system. After the pre-rounds, the qualification of 32 players is:
X 14 top players from the ranking
X numbers 1 and 2 of qualifications
X 1 wildcard from UMB
X 2 wildcards organization
X numbers 3 to 15 of the qualifications (10 group winners and 3 best numbers 2).
With these 32 players, eight groups of four are formed, of whom the best two pass to the knock-outs with 16.
What can be expected from 2019? Surely a confrontation between Europe and Asia, despite the great loss of the Koreans and Vietnamese during the last Ceulemans Cup in Bordeaux? The confirmation of Semih Sayginer, who made a great come-back in 2018 without a big win? The definitive breakthrough of Myung-Woo Cho (28th of the world), the biggest talent for the future of three cushion?
The prize money is the same as in 2018 with 16,000 euros for the winner, 10,000 for the second, 6,000 for the third and fourth at the podium. The top 20 is a target for all major tenors to be qualified for the Survival tournaments, the four satellite tournaments organized by UMB and Kozoom this year.
The seeded players for Antalya are:
Dick Jaspers, Frédéric Caudron, Eddy Merckx, Semih Sayginer Marco Zanetti, Jae-Ho Cho, Quyet Chien Tran, Jérémy Bury, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Jung-Han Heo, Sameh Sidhom, Tayfun Tasdemir, Murat Naci Coklu and Sung-Won Choi. The wildcards were given to Lütfi Cenet and Birol Uymaz on behalf of the organizer and Pedro Piedrabuena from the UMB.
All matches from the start are broadcast live by kozoom.com
