GURI - Six match tables in one big arena, stands with a wonderful view at the billiards, warm and sunny outdoors, 2000 won (1 euro 50) for half a liter pint and a two minutes walk from the hotel the billiards room. The World Cup in South Korea Guri, east of Seoul, has started today (Monday) under the best in the Guri Gymnasium.
Semih Sayginer, who required to start in the first round of qualification due to his long absence from the global stage, was the first day winner the full match points in his group, 1.428 average and a high run of seven. That's not so impressive, though more than good for a smooth passage to the next round.
The South Korean city with over 200.000 inhabitants in the province of Gyeonggi, is famous for its Royal tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, got its independence in 1986 has a traditional market in Toldari, Guri's down town.
There, the best billiard players in the world will arrive in the coming days to play their third World Cup of the year after the victories of Jae Ho Cho in Istanbul, Frédéric Caudron in Luxor and Dick Jaspers in Porto.
The Belgian Caudron, who took the world title in one cushion in Saint Brevin, France, this weekend, is not only the leader in the world ranking, he's also on top of the World Cup ranking with 114 points, ahead of Sung-Won Choi 108, Dick Jaspers 104, Jae Ho Cho 96 and Torbjörn Blomdahl 88.
The time difference with Western Europe is seven hours (earlier in Europe), the matches start at 11.00, the last at 20.00 pm Korean time. The semifinals are on Sunday at 11.00 and 13.00, the final at 19.30 (12.30 in Europe).
The first day of the preliminaries was dominated as usual by Koreans, who finished with four in the top five after Semih Sayginer, ahead of three Vietnamese, three other Koreans and finally a Japanese, Masataka Kanbara. The player with the highest average, Jin Pyo Hong, played one draw and finished 1.621.
The only Europeans on this first day were Semih Sayginer, the Belgian Roger van Hoylandt and Spaniard Juan Bolt Erin Bote, of whom the last two finished third in the group and may go home. Sayginer plays in his next group against Yavuz Güngördü and Takashi Sannakanishi.
The top twelve finishers on day one:
1 Semih Sayginer, 4-1.428-7
2 Tae Soo Lim, 4-1.333-5
3 Sang Pil Um, 4-1.276-7
4 Heung Sik Park, 4-1.276-5
5 Wan Young Choi, 4-1.250-9
6 Quang Hao Truong, 4-1.250-8
7 Hoang Mai Phuoc Le, 4-1.224-7
8 Duy Trun Nguyen, 4-1.200-7
9 Tae Ha Woo, 4-0.857-4
10 Jin Pyo Hong, 3-1.621-7
11 Jeong Wan Lim, 3-1.304-7
12 Masakata Kanbara, 3-0.833-5.