WONJU - Twenty of the world's best players have received invitations from Five&Six this week for a three-cushion high-prize event in the Korean city of Wonju. The event is called the World 3-Cushion Grand Prix, the tournament consists of three parts: a Pro-Grand Prix, a team tournament and the main event, the Masters Grand Prix. Apart from 20 world top players, 19 wildcards are invited, including six ladies led by Therese Klompenhouwer and some youthful talents with the world junior champion Burak Hashas.
Dick Jaspers is the defending champion, Dani Sánchez, Tayfun Tasdemir, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Marco Zanetti, Quyet Chien Tran, Haeng Jik Kim and Eddy Merckx are other top players from the world rankings.
The Pro event will be played on 18 January 2023, the team tournament from 19-22 January and the individual Masters Grand Prix from 23 January to 1st of February. The venue is Hotel Inter Burgo Wonju in Wonju, a city 150 kilometers from Seoul with a population of 350,000. The total prize money is 600,000,000 Korean won, 450,000 euros.
Dick Jaspers won the main event last year in July 2022, in a final against Korean Bong-ju Hwang. The Dutchman commented it was the longest and most gruelling tournament in his long billiard career. In the entire tournament, 250 matches were played in a fortnight. Jaspers played 22 games in 18 days. He went home with the jackpot in the Grand Prix of 75,000 euros. The other players on the podium were Bong-ju Hwang, Jun Tae Kim and Torbjörn Blomdahl.
The 20 invited players are:
Dick Jaspers, Netherlands
Dani Sánchez, Spain
Tayfun Tasdemir, Turkey
Torbjörn Blomdahl, Sweden
Sameh Sidhom, Egypt
Marco Zanetti, Italy
Eddy Merckx, Belgium
Quyet Chien Tran, Vietnam
Haeng Jik Kim, Korea
Jung-han Heo, Korea
Nikos Polychronopoulos, Greece
Jun Tae Kim, Korea
Myung-woo Cho, Korea
Sung-won Choi, Korea
Murat Naci Coklu, Turkey
Choong Bok Lee, Korea
Ruben Legazpi, Spain
Duc Anh Chien Nguyen, Vietnam
Pedro Gonzalez, Colombia
Takao Miyasita, Japan
The players with a Wildcard are:
Dion Nelin, Denmark
Myeong Jong Cha, Korea
Jose Juan Garcia, Colombia
Tran Thanh Tu Nguyen, Vietnam
Pedro Piedrabuena, USA
Jose Miguel Soares, Portugal
Sam van Etten, Netherlands
Huberney Cataño, Colombia
Mahmoud Ayman, Egypt
Nikolaus Kogelbauer, Austria
Burak Hashas, Turkey
Alessio D'Agata, Italy
Jun Hyuk Son, Korea
Therese Klompenhouwer, Netherlands
Jieun Han, Korea
Noriko Fukao, Japan
Güzin Mujde Karakasli, Turkey
Nhi Hoanguyen Nguyen, Vietnam.
The groups for the Masters event will be announced after the qualifiers in Korea.
For the Pro event, played with teams (with Vip partner) have been selected:
Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez, Tayfun Tasdemir, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Sameh Sidhom, Marco Zanetti, Eddy Merckx, Quyet Chien Tran, Haeng Jik Kim, Jung-han Heo, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jun Tae Kim, Myung-woo Cho, Sung-won Choi, Murat Naci Coklu, Choong Bok Lee, Dion Nelin and Pedro Piedrabuena.
The players who had to cancel for the tournament due to other commitments are Semih Sayginer, Jérémy Bury and Gwendal Maréchal.
Dick Jaspers on the podium with the final players in the Grand Prix