3-Cushion
HURGHADA - There is a soft background music in the arena, a some Dutch people and Belgians are in the stands to see the first matches, there's a last overview at the billiards and a final cleanup before the start of the tournament. The World Cup in Hurghada, the last of the year, has started in a very relaxed atmosphere this morning.
Most of the time it were Dutch players, Belgians, Danish and Egyptians, who pulled their cues out of the suitcases. Many players with only a few or no points, also one player with a great reputation. Frans van Kuyk makes his international comeback in Hughada. It's just for only one time, he said, but it's good to see him back here.
,,I don't know exactly when I played the last World Cup'', he told us before his first match. ,,The World Cup in Oosterhout, I should say, but even not the last tournament there. I hate to travel to foreign countries. The Crystal Kelly was the only tournament where I played. Just look at my trip yesterday. A wake up at six, to the airport in Schiphol, which is already a long trip for me and then off to Egypt. But it's allright, I wanted to taste the atmosphere one more time and have a little holiday. We have started last night with a good glass of beer.''
At the billiard table, the Dutchman showed his class this morning with a second set in five innings and a run of eleven in his second inning. It must be a rarity, an average of 1.304 and a run of eleven in the first skirmishes of a World Cup.
Huub Wilkowski, the husband of Monique van Hamond, who played the first session, told that they had a long journey on Saturday. ,,We had to depart from Düsseldorf, there we had to wait for a few hours and because of troubles with the plane, we were transported with all the people in four buses to Frankfurt to fly from there to Hurghada. It was not even sure if we would leave, but eventually we came here.''
The Sunrise Beach Garden, where the tournament is played, is a place of rest these days. Actually, like everything else in Hurghada, in the city, in the harbor, where we met a strict monitoring for those who want to make images of the marine ships which are laying there.
It was impressive to see the big mosque, which is still under construction. The architect said the building will be ready in about three months and then will host more than fifteen hundred people, who will flow together each day.
Mohamed Suliman, who guided us through the city, said while he was driving through the traffic chaos in the center: ,,Here everyone is honking. Where I live, in Alexandria, it is prohibited. Who dares to horn in the traffic, will get a penalty of one hundred and fifty Egyptian pounds, it's seventeen euros.
What can we expect more today? The arrival of Myung Woo Cho, a thirteen-year young natural talent from Korea. He plays at 16.00 and 20.00, unfortunately not in the Sunrise Beach, where the Kozoom cameras registrate all matches, but at the two tables in the hotel next door.