PORTO - The maestro Frédéric Caudron said goodbye to the World Cup in Porto today. One of the big new stars in three cushion had a spectacular end today to the provisional last adventure in the UMB World federation for the Belgian billiard player. Two generations, two world class players, performed in a man-to-man fight on two separate tables. The mutual match ended in 40-40 earlier this day, the last session was the executioner. The 'little Cho' (21) won the match, beating Eddy Leppens 40-12 in 13 innings, the 'big' Caudron (51) was eliminated, although he defeated Torbjörn Blomdahl generously with 40-22 in 15 innings . The Korean prodigy won the battle on average: 2.000 against 1.766.
The group had already been announced in advance as the 'group of death' with the two Belgians Caudron and Leppens, the multiple champion Torbjörn Blomdahl and Myung-Woo Cho, about whom the billiard world is speaking in superlatives for some years as the successor of the big European champions. The final round, today, was decisive for continuing or going home. Eddy Leppens was surprisingly unattainable with two wins. Blomdahl with two match points, Caudron and Cho both with one match point, were in the spotlights of the final séance. Myung-Woo Cho with 1.674 on average after two rounds, Frédéric Caudron with 1.466, so that the Belgian had to win with a better score in the final matches.
The fight turned into a wonderful climax. Caudron led 13-9 in three against Blomdahl after a run of 13 in the third inning. Cho was leading 4-0 against Leppens in that part of the matches. The Korean, obviously not bothered by any pressure or tension, started his huge attack from the 9th inning with runs of 9, 11 and 4 for a 36-10 lead over Leppens. Caudron played superbly (32-20 in 12, 35-22 in 13), but was no longer able to close the average gap towards the Korean. Therefor, the Belgian, so hungering for success, said an early goodbye to this World Cup.
The former world and European champion Jef Philipoom (1995), who rarely performs in World Cups anymore, was the sensation in this sessions with a victory over Murat Naci Coklu in his last match. Therefore he advanced to the best sixteen. The Belgian finished second in his flight behind Marco Zanetti.
Dani Sánchez, Eddy Merckx and Jacob Haack Sörensen recorded the maximum 6 match points. The Spaniard with 2.264 on average, the Belgian with 2.181 en the Dane with 1.846. Dick Jaspers is the best on average with 2.320 with one loss. Marco Zanetti and Lütfi Cenet remain unbeaten with 5 match points en averages 2.068 and 1.967.
The matches in the knock-out for Saturday:
10:00am (Portuguese time)
Dani Sánchez - Birol Uymaz
Eddy Leppens - Dick Jaspers
Lütfi Cenet - Jung-Han Heo
Marco Zanetti - Jae-Ho Cho
12:00 noon
Jacob Haack Sörensen - Myung-Woo Cho
Jef Philipoom - Dion Nelin
Trung Hau Do Nguyen - Tayfun Tasdemir
Eddy Merckx - HaengJik Kim.
The eight group overviews:Group A:
The two leading positions go to Jacob Haack Sörensen and Dick Jaspers. The young Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal cannot use his last chance, after a great tournament, against Sörensen by losing 40-23 in 23 innings. Jaspers is second after his victory over Mohamd Abdin. Jacob Haack Sörensen, after his win over Jaspers, enters the decisive round with the best chances: four match points against two for Dick Jaspers and Gwendal Maréchal. The world champion runs into a good start in the first round against Maréchal 40-18 in 15. Haack Sörensen gets enough chances from Mohamed Abdin to bing the score to 40-30 in 27. The fight focuses on three contenders after the Dane has restored the balance by beating Dick Jaspers 40-36 in 15 and Maréchal shows up for the top three after beating Abdin (40-21 in 23). The Frenchman cannot finish it off in his last appearance.
The ranking in Group A:
1 Jacob Haack Sörensen 6 -1.846-7
2 Dick Jaspers 4- 2.320-10
3 Gwendal Maréchal 2- 1.377-5
4 Mohamed Abdin 0- 1.028-8
Group B:
Two great champions, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Frédéric Caudron have to leave the stage, defeated in the final ranking by Eddy Leppens and Myung-Woo Cho. The 'group of death' with Caudron, Blomdahl, Leppens and Myung Woo Cho will have an unexpected course. After two matches, Leppens has already secured his place in the last 16 being the better of Caudron (40-26 in 22) with runs of 8 and 7 and on Blomdahl, which has a very poor start and is facing a 30-2 margin in 11 and 43 -3 in 13. Before Leppens reaches the finish, the Swede comes to 10 with a run of 6: 30-10 in 20. Myung-Woo Cho is the better starter against Caudron (20-4 in 6, 23- 10 in 10), but then loses his focus with five misses in a row. The Belgian fights back into the match, is beaten 40-32, but forces the draw in his now famous equalizer, however his last point is a lucky shot: 40-40 in 23.
The ranking in Group B:
1 Eddy Leppens 4- 1.636-11
2 Myung-Woo Cho 3- 2.000-11
3 Frédéric Caudron 3- 1.766-13
4 Torbjörn Blomdahl 2-1.472-11
Group C:
The Koreans Jung-Han Heo and Sung-Won Choi are fighting in the final round to be awarded by the second position behind the unbeaten Dani Sánchez. Heo is the winner on match points and generously on average before Choi. Quyet Chan Tran ends pointless at the bottom. Dani Sánchez starts the group phase just as strongly as in the run-up to the European Cup final with FC Porto, where he opens with 40 in 11, 13 and 15. In this World Cup, the Spaniard first beats Quyet Chien Tran 40 in 15, followed by Jung-Han Heo 40-12 in 13. Jung-Han Heo conquers his countryman Sung-Won Choi first 40-21 in 19 and after Choi's win over Tran (40-32 in 21), Heo is on second place after Sánchez in the final round.
The ranking in Group C:
1 Dani Sánchez 6- 2.264-13
2 Jung-Han Heo 4- 1.642-9
3 Sung-Won Choi 2- 1.323-9
4 Quyet Chien Tran 0- 1.466-6
Group D:
The tension remains until the very last carom, after Lütfi Cenet has already secured the leading position. Ding Nai Ngo can pass HaengJik Kim for second place with a win over the Turk, a draw is not enough. The Vietnamese can't use one match ball after a late run of six and two misses by Cenet, but he misses by a kiss. The draw, with one point in the equalizer, cannot save Ngo. HaengJik Kim is second on average. Semih Sayginer runs into a loss in the first match and cannot recover afterwards. Lütfi Cenet takes a promising start in which he, in the fourth inning, runs 11 to a lead against Sayginer (18-9) and finally wins 40-33 in 17. HaengJik Kim beats Dinh Nai Ngo 40-22 in 17. The Vietnamese has his chances again after a win over Sayginer (40-25 in 18) and Lütfi Cenet is the only one left unbeaten after two matches: 40-35 in 20 against HaengJik Kim and his last draw against Ngo. Semih Sayginer and HaengJik Kim also tie in the final round: 40-40 in 21.
The ranking in Group D:
1 Lütfi Cenet 5- 1.967-13
2 HaengJik Kim 3- 1.982-8
3 Dinh Nai Ngo 3- 1.728-5
4 Semih Sayginer 1- 1,750-11
Group E:
The supremacy of Eddy Merckx determines the course of this group. After his first two victories over Birol Uymaz (40-23 in 16 and Sameh Sidhom 40-28 in 19), the Belgian is out of reach for the position on top. Merckx also wins his last against Kang 40 - 22 in 20. In-Won Kang loses a 36-23 lead in his match against Uymaz by seven misses in his last eight innings and eventually has to score twice to finish 40-40 in 25 innings. Birol Uymaz takes second place due to his victory over Sameh Sidhom in his last: 40-34 in 23.
The final ranking in Group E:
1 Eddy Merckx 6- 2.181-9
2 Birol Uymaz 3- 1.609-7
3 Sameh Sidhom 2- 1.593-6
4 In-Won Kang 1- 1.194-8
Group F:
The Vietnamese Nguyen finishes in third place despite two wins. His last win over Dion Nelin (40-34 in 20) brings him to the same match points with Nelin and Tasdemir, but the Dane and the Turk have the better averages. Thomas Andersen finishes in fourth place without match points. Dion Nelin has the top position already for grabs after the wins against Thomas Andersen (40-30 in 18) and Tayfun Tasdemir in a strong performance, 40-34 in 15 innings. Andersen also loses his second to Nguyen, who was beaten in his first by Tasdemir.
The final score in Group F:
1 Dion Nelin 4-2.150-11
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 4-1.838-8
3 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 4-1.418-10
4 Thomas Andersen 0-1.287-7
Group G:
The group eventually turns into the final best positions for Trung Hau Do Nguyen and Jae-Ho Cho. They are the best with 4 match points, followed by Robinson Morales and Jérémy Bury with 2 points. Morales wins his only match against Do Nguyen in the last session. The Colombian passes Bury with 1.681 against 1.461 on average, both are eliminated. Jae-Ho Cho wins his last 40-37 in 29 vs Bury. The Korean had to recover from a weak start against Trung Hau Do Nguyen (40-25 loss in 23) and does so convincingly. Jae-Ho Cho defeats Morales in a top match in 13 innings: 40-34 in 13. Nguyen also shines against Bury 40-37 in 19 and is the leader in the final round.
The final ranking in Group G:
1 Trung Hau Do Nguyen 4-1.800-6
2 Jae-Ho Cho 4-1.615-8
3 Robinson Morales 2-1.681-10
4 Jérémy Bury 2-1.461-6
Group H:
The Belgian Jef Philipoom finishes his performance with a huge surprise by keeping Murat Naci Coklu out of Saturday's knockout. The mutual match, which ends the group in Philipoom's favour for second place, is closed by the Belgian with a run of 8 in the 22nd inning (40-39). The Turkish world top player can still draw, but misses his last carom. Marco Zanetti wins his last match against Ma 40-25 in 16. The Italian's final sprint against Murat Naci Coklu launches a fascinating finish. The match between the Italian and the Turk enters the final with Coklu leading 28-17. Zanetti reaches the finish with his famous fighting spirit, a run of 7. Coklu scores the two points for the draw in 22 innings. Jef Philipoom, first loser to Zanetti, impresses Minh Cam Ma, leads after eight innings with 21-2 and maintains his lead until the end: 40-18 in 20 innings, therefore keeping the chances in his own own hands.
The final ranking in Group H:
1 Marco Zanetti 5-2.068-7
2 Jef Philipoom 4-1.806-12
3 Murat Naci Coklu 3-1.919-10
4 Minh Cam Ma 0-1.500-6.
