GWANGJU – Two major champions were missing the draw for the finals at the penultimate World Cup, which kicks off this Friday with 32 in Gwajung, South Korea. Torbjörn Blomdahl and Phuong Vinh Bao, chasing for better rankings, narrowly missed out on qualification in the preliminary round, where Turgay Orak from Turkey, Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen from Vietnam, and Nick Polychronopoulos from Greece were the top group winners. The Vietnamese had five winners out of 12 groups in the final qualifying round. Glenn Hofman and Peter Ceulemans represented the low lands in the elite field of group winners. The averages in the preliminary rounds were slightly lower than in previous World Cups by Korean standards. Two players finished just over a 2-point average. The highest run that day was Polychronopoulos's with 14.
The top-ranked player from the ultimate qualifiers, Turgay Orak, faces Myung Woo Cho and Haeng Jik Kim in the main draw. Dick Jaspers, the number one, plays against TTT Nguyen and Sergio Jimenez, among others. The two best Belgians, Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron, will play the replay of the World Championship final and also face Nick Polychronopoulos and Myeong Jong Cha in their group of four.
Tayfun Tasdemir and Jérémy Bury have been paired with two outsiders for the podium: Glenn Hofman and Ruben Legazpi. Peter Ceulemans, the third Belgian, faces Jung-han Heo, Sameh Sidhom, and Hong Chiem Thai. Group F features a battle with three Vietnamese players and Tolgahan Kiraz.
The overview of the twelve groups:
Group A:
Three Vietnamese players battled for group victory. Thanh Tien Le was the winner on average, while Phuong Vinh Bao, the world champion of three years ago who shone in the last World Cup in Antwerp, narrowly missed out on the main draw in Gwangju. He was defeated by Hoan Tat Nguyen 40-33 in 32 innings. The victory in the final match against Thanh Tien Le wasn't enough, as Le finished slightly higher on average with 2 match points: 1.458 to 1.403
Group B:
Peter Ceulemans delivered the final blow against Gwendal Maréchal (40-23 in 25 innings). The Belgian, who started with a draw against Geonyun Kim, finished with 3 match points and 1.403, staying ahead of his two rivals with 3 match points and continuing his climb to the top 14 spots.
Group C:
Hong Chiem Thai secured qualification in the decisive match against Huberney Cataño. The Colombian, who defeated David Pennör in his first match, was beaten by the Vietnamese player 40-35 in 23.
Group D:
Glenn Hofman, never before so close to the top 14 of the rankings, secured a commanding position with victories over Ahmet Alp (40-35 in 29) and Alessio D’Agata (40-34 in 35).
Group E:
Three players each had two match points. Ruben Legazpi was the best in average, ahead of Hugo Patiño and Sam van Etten: 1.717, 1.578, and 1.291. The Dutchman defeated the eventual group winner in the head-to-head match: 40-39 in a fierce battle in the final innings.
Group F:
Nick Polychronopoulos won unchallenged against Turk Kapusiz and Korean Ja In Kang. The Greek scored a nice 14 against Kapusi, who had made a strong impression in the preliminary rounds.
Group G:
The group in which Torbjörn Blomdahl played second fiddle on average against a Vietnamese and a Korean. Van Ly Dao was the decisive player, winning against the Swede (40-33 in 23 matches). Blomdahl's revenge against Jeong (40-28 in 33 matches) wasn't enough for the final victory.
Group H:
Another group with players who made each other's lives miserable. Myeong Jong Cha wasn't a high-flyer on average, but still finished ahead of Seo and Papakonstantinou. Cha's resounding victory over the Greek proved tob e decisive (40-18 in 21 matches).
Group I
Turgay Orak's dominance was already evident in his first match against Korean veteran Chi Yeon Cho: 40-19 in 18. Roland Forthomme also defeated the Korean, but Orak struck out on top against the Belgian, 40-25 in 21. The Turk was by far the best in the groupon match points and average: 2.051.
Group J:
Nguyen Chi Long finished in the top five of the twelve group winners with wins over Rui Costa and Gökhan Salman in 32 and 29 innings, respectively. Rui Costa defeated Salman in 22 innings and, with his average of 1.444, slipped into the main draw as runner-up.
Group K:
The tone had been set. TTT Nguyen was superior to Yavuz in the first match (40-16 in 16) and later defeated Sergio Jimenez. The Spaniard narrowly missed out on a prize with his average of 1.416, earning him a place in the main tournament.
Group L:
Bong Joo Hwang won his first match against Chun Hoo Park by 1 carom and secured the group win against Omer Karakurt: 40-33 in 29.
Nick Polychronopoulos, solid in top 3
Glenn Hofman, group winner and chasing fort top 14
Peter Ceulemans joins his two Belgian popguns, Merckx and Csudron
Sergio Jimenez goes on as one of the best runners-up
The standings of the 12 group winners in the final qualifying round:
- Turgay Orak 4-2,051-8
- Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen 4-2,000-8
- Nick Polychronopoulos 4-1,481-14
- Bong Joo Hwang 4-1,403-8
- Nguyen Chi Long 4-1,311-9
- Glenn Hofman 4-1,250-8
- Hong Chiem Thai 3-1,481-7
- Peter Ceulemans 3-1,403-9
- Ruben Legazpi 2-1,717-8
- Van Ly Dao 2-1,595-6
- Thanh Tien Le 2-1.458-10
- Myeong Jong Cha 2-1,386-6Reserves, 3 qualify for the main draw:
- Hugo Patino 2-1,578-7
- Rui Manuel Costa 2-1,444-8
- Sergio Jimenez 2-1,416-8
The draw for the first round with 32 players in 8 groups of 4 (top 2 qualify for the knockout round of 16):
Group A: Dick Jaspers, Sergio Jimenez, TTT Nguyen, Daniel Morales
Group B: Myung Woo Cho, Haeng Jik Kim, Turgay Orak, Rui Manuel Costa
Group C: Quyet Chien Tran, Martin Horn, Wan Young Choi, Hugo Patiño
Group D: Eddy Merckx, Frédéric Caudron, Nick Polychronopoulos, Myeong Jong Cha
Group E: Marco Zanetti, Thanh Tien Le, Berkay Karakurt, Bong Joo Hwang
Group F: Thanh Luc Tran, Van Ly Dao. Nguyen Chi Long, Tolgahan Kiraz
Group G: Tayfun Tasdemir, Ruben Legazpi, Jérémy Bury, Glenn Hofman
Group H: Jung han Heo, Peter Ceulemans, Sameh Sidhom, Hong Chiem Thai.