World CupSeoul (Korea, Republic of)

World Cup winner Dani Sánchez: a world star in Korea

08/28/2022

Published by frits bakker

Dani Sánchez shows his happiness after winning the Seoul World Cup, his third in South Korea

SEOUL - The European champion Dani Sánchez defeated the world champion Dick Jaspers, then took the final against Korean Myeong Jong Cha (50-16 in 16 innings) and won the World Cup in Seoul on a wonderful Korean Sunday night. The 48-year old Spaniard was a brilliant winner with high averages, a fantastic fight with Dick Jaspers in the semi-finals and finally he was the only one who could beat Korean coming-man Myeong Jong Cha in front of his own audience. Sánchez thus achieved his 15th World Cup in total, his third World Cup in Korea, the country he likes to call his second homeland. Dani Sánchez is a phenomenon in South Korea.

The Catalan star player Dani Sánchez has his own billiard centre there, close to Seoul's centre, has become a big name with his brand name DS Billiards, with which he is also sponsor of many famous players, but owes his fame most of all because of his splendid record of achievements. With his victories over Torbjorn Blomdahl (50-30, quarter-finals) and Dick Jaspers (50-49, semi-finals), the Spaniard proved once again in the Seoul World Cup that he belongs to the greatest billiard players in the world. His comments after the final earned him a thunderous applause ''I feel happy, I am at home here and I had to fight very hard'', Sánchez said in his speech.

He made clear that he had travelled to Korea more than three weeks before the World Cup to prepare optimally. ''I have practiced a lot, I always want to win a World Cup, but especially in Korea. The level is high from the first days, nothing is more difficult than winning a World Cup in Korea.'' In his reaction afterwards, he mainly looked back at the match with Dick Jaspers: ''It's always a pleasure to play against Jaspers, because he is the best in the world. I had to fight hard, I was far behind, but I could come back. And I had a bit more luck in the end'', Sánchez showed his great sportsmanship. It is striking how much respect the two world top players have for each other. Dick Jaspers commented: ''Dani is very strong already for some years and is the very deserved winner. I played my best match against him, could have won if my match ball had not been so hard. I had to fight it out, unfortunately I had no time-out and it was a nightmare to get a match ball like that. Anyway, I don't begrudge Dani this World Cup victory. I have lost to him a few times in the last few years and I am happy that I was able to give him a good match.''

The final against Myeong Jong Cha, a player who has risen from 81st to 35th place in the world ranking list due to his enormous performance, was actually a walk-over for Dani Sánchez. The Korean shortly remained in balance with the Spaniard (9-8), but after ten innings was already put on a big margin (26-12), after which Sánchez further dominated the match and went from 38-16 to a 50-16 victory. Dani Sánchez reached the final by his victory against Dick Jaspers, Myeong Jong Cha also won in a heroic battle against Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal, one of the main European promises for the future of three cushion.

Dick Jaspers remains after this fourth World Cup this year (two wins Dick Jaspers, one Eddy Merckx, one Dani Sánchez) the glorious number one in the world. Dani Sánchez was the best on average with his victory in Seoul: 2.206 ahead of Dick Jaspers 1.921 and Quyet Chien Tran (1.783), who could not play a significant role with a 20th place.

The World Cup was characterised by the cautious breakthrough of a few talents: Vietnamese Phuong Vinh Bao, a graduated master, survived the preliminaries, reached the main draw and was only eliminated by Eddy Merckx. The Korean surprised the billiard world with his place in the final, after he had beaten Haeng Jik Kim, Semih Sayginer in the knock-outs and Gwendal Maréchal in the semi-final. The French student also played a fantastic tournament with wins over Marco Zanetti and Jun Tae Kim.
World Cup winner Dani Sánchez: a world star in Korea

SEOUL - The European champion Dani Sánchez defeated the world champion Dick Jaspers, then took the final against Korean Myeong Jong Cha (50-16 in 16 innings) and won the World Cup in Seoul on a wonderful Korean Sunday night. The 48-year old Spaniard was a brilliant winner with high averages, a fantastic fight with Dick Jaspers in the semi-finals and finally he was the only one who could beat Korean coming-man Myeong Jong Cha in front of his own audience. Sánchez thus achieved his 15th World Cup in total, his third World Cup in Korea, the country he likes to call his second homeland. Dani Sánchez is a phenomenon in South Korea.

The Catalan Dani Sánchez has his own billiard centre there, close to Seoul's centre, has become a big name with his brand name DS Billiards, with which he is also sponsor of many famous players, but owes his fame most of all because of his splendid record of achievements. With his victories over Torbjorn Blomdahl (50-30, quarter-finals) and Dick Jaspers (50-49, semi-finals), the Spaniard proved once again in the Seoul World Cup that he belongs to the greatest billiard players in the world. His comments after the final earned him a thunderous applause ''I feel happy, I am at home here and I had to fight very hard'', Sánchez said in his speech.

He made clear that he had travelled to Korea more than three weeks before the World Cup to prepare optimally. ''I have practiced a lot, I always want to win a World Cup, but especially in Korea. The level is high from the first days, nothing is more difficult than winning a World Cup in Korea.'' In his reaction afterwards, he mainly looked back at the match with Dick Jaspers: ''It's always a pleasure to play against Jaspers, because he is the best in the world. I had to fight hard, I was far behind, but I could come back. And I had a bit more luck in the end'', Sánchez showed his great sportsmanship. It is striking how much respect the two world top players have for each other. Dick Jaspers commented: ''Dani is very strong already for some years and is the very deserved winner. I played my best match against him, could have won if my match ball had not been so hard. I had to fight it out, unfortunately I had no time-out and it was a nightmare to get a match ball like that. Anyway, I don't begrudge Dani this World Cup victory. I have lost to him a few times in the last few years and I am happy that I was able to give him a good match.''

The final against Myeong Jong Cha, a player who has risen from 81st to 35th place in the world ranking list due to his enormous performance, was actually a walk-over for Dani Sánchez. The Korean shortly remained in balance with the Spaniard (9-8), but after ten innings was already put on a big margin (26-12), after which Sánchez further dominated the match and went from 38-16 to a 50-16 victory. Dani Sánchez reached the final by his victory against Dick Jaspers, Myeong Jong Cha also won in a heroic battle against Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal, one of the main European promises for the future of three cushion.

Dick Jaspers remains after this fourth World Cup this year (two wins Dick Jaspers, one Eddy Merckx, one Dani Sánchez) the glorious number one in the world. Dani Sánchez was the best on average with his victory in Seoul: 2.206 ahead of Dick Jaspers 1.921 and Quyet Chien Tran (1.783), who could not play a significant role with a 20th place.

The World Cup was characterised by the cautious breakthrough of a few talents: Vietnamese Phuong Vinh Bao, a graduated master, survived the preliminaries, reached the main draw and was only eliminated by Eddy Merckx. The Korean surprised the billiard world with his place in the final, after he had beaten Haeng Jik Kim, Semih Sayginer in the knock-outs and Gwendal Maréchal in the semi-final. The French student also played a fantastic tournament with wins over Marco Zanetti and Jun Tae Kim.

Semi-finals

Two semi-finals with a scintillating climax preceded the battle for gold between Dani Sánchez and Myeong Jong Cha. The fight between the two world class players, Dani Sánchez and Dick Jaspers, was won by the Spaniard with the minimum score: 50-49 in 22/21 innings. Just before that, the Koreans could cheer for a finalist from their own country. Myeong Jong Cha was the winner against Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal, who missed the final sprint and was beaten by the new Korean hero 50-48 in 24.

The prelude to the final had a top billings with Dick Jaspers and Dani Sánchez, the numbers one and two in the world ranking and by far the most successful players in the last two years of world billiards.

Dick Jaspers first narrowly won the knock-outs against Jérémy Bury, then bested Eddy Merckx and ran into Dani Sánchez in this semi-final. The Spaniard defeated Jung Han Heo in his first match, then Torbjörn Blomdahl in the quarter-finals, after which Dick Jaspers, with whom he played the final of the European Championship, crossed his path.

Jaspers' supremacy in the first part of the match is evident in the scores: 15-7 after five innings and after a shaky period for Sánchez 21-7 in seven. But the appearance of a superior Jaspers and an underlying Sánchez was deceiving. The European title holder got the world champion in his grip in the second half, after a 35-23 score for Jaspers and a 13 run had turned the match around to a minimal lead of 36-35 in 13. Dick Jaspers, renowned for his fighting mentality, did not give up and with runs of six and four he regained the lead. Dani Sánchez answered strongly with eight, survived one match point from Jaspers at 49-46 and then finished the match with four: 50-49, a mighty apotheosis of this world class match.

At the other table, in the match between the two outsiders Myeong Jong Cha and Gwendal Maréchal, the scenario was almost the same. The Frenchman had a promising start, breaking away in the fourth inning with a run of 10 to 17-3 and even taking a 28-11 lead. That was the signal for the Korean to fight his way back into the match. Cha, who is suddenly famous in his country, took some of the lead with a run of 9, gradually took over the initiative, but saw the French promise with a run of 8 in the 21st to get back to 48-47. Gwendal, who played a fantastic tournament and achieved his first major World Cup success, went down in the tension of the final innings. He missed four times in sight of victory, after which Myeong Jong Cha finished with 2 and 1, to the delight of the home crowd: 50-48 in 24.

Gwendal commented: ''I was so happy to be on the podium, this is the first time for me. And especially in Korea it's so special, with so many fans here. I was here for the first time, thanks to all the Korean fans for their support.''

And speaking about his last match: ''The semi final I started really good, I had no pressure, nothing to lose, only to win, but Cha came back strong after the break with 9 and 15. Then I missed opportunities and he was leading 47-40, but I managed to make 8. I missed easily at the end, because I was a little nervous, so close to the final.''

The final ranking in the World Cup in Seoul:

1 Dani Sánchez 14-2,206-18
2 Myeong Jong Cha 10-1.505-15
3 Dick Jaspers 10-1.921-11
3 Gwendal Maréchal 6-1.604-10
5 Semih Sayginer 8-1.458-10
6 Torbjörn Blomdahl 6-1,596-10
7 Eddy Merckx 6-1,53916
8 Jun Tae Kim 6-1,427-14
9 Marco Zanetti 6-1,975-11
10 Haeng Jik Kim 5-1,467-10
11 Sameh Sidhom 4-1,561-11
12 Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1,531-14
13 Jérémy Bury 4-1,362-8
14 Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-1,333-10
15 Wan Young Choi 4-1,196-11
16 Jung Han Heo 3-1,336-13.

The new world ranking (in brackets: positions up or down):
1 Dick Jaspers 622
2 Dani Sánchez 466 (-)
3 Marco Zanetti 389 (-)
4 Quyet Chien Tran 339 (-)
5 Sameh Sidhom 304 (-)
6 Martin Horn 259 (+4)
7 Tayfun Tasdemir 255 (-)
8 Torbjörn Blomdahl 254 (+2)
9 Semih Sayginer 249 (+2)
10 Eddy Merckx 241 (-4)
11 Jérémy Bury 237 (-3)
12 Kim HJ 226 (+1)
13 Murat Naci Coklu 211 (-1)
14 Heo JH 200 (-)
15 Kim JT 167 (+1)
16 Duc Anh Chien Nguyen 167 (+1)
17 Choi SW 166 (-2)
18 Nikos Polychronopoulos 158 (-)
19 Myung Woo Cho 143 (-)
20 Pedro Gonzales 138 (+1)