SHARM EL SHEIKH - The young Austrian talent Nikolaus Kogelbauer (19), was leading the rankings after the first day of play in the Sharm El Sheikh World Cup. The other huge talent, Korean girl Jieun Han (20), slipped into the next round with a little luck as the number three on the reserve list. Two players on this first day stood out above the rest in averages: Kogelbauer with 1,621, the Turk Muammer Rahmet, who also made the best daily run (11), with 1,538 on average. Nikolaus Kogelbauer, a young semi-pro, was particularly happy with his performance. He won twice with a comfortable lead, first against Turk Ahmad Helwe, later against American Cem Cemal Geyik, twice with a 30-7 score in 16 and 21 innings. The Austrian, who works half days for Claus Maurer, a fellow billiard player and financial advisor, was also invited to play the Lausanne Masters last week.
''I certainly saw and learned a lot there'', he said after his first, excellent matches in Sharm El Sheikh. ''The only thing, unfortunately, was that I had a cold and was not in good shape. But it was great to play with those top players. It felt like an inspiration to keep working on my development as a billiard player. For that, I am supported by the Austrian federation, which allows me to participate in the World Cups. Moreover, I can practice with Dick Jaspers, my teammate in Austria, and with Martin Horn. And because I now work half days, I can fully concentrate on billiards and on travelling to the World Cups.''
Jieun Han, the young lady and huge talent from Korea, is also developing in ladies three cushion. At 19, she already won the New York Open in a final against Therese Klompenhouwer. And now, she is fully focused on the World Cups, first in Veghel, now in Sharm El Sheikh. On this first day, she won against Frenchman Olivier Jacquemond 30-17 in 28, but in the second match she lost a margin against young Spaniard Ivan Mayor and was beaten in the final sprint 30-27 in 30 innings. The elimination seemed close, but in the end, the Korean became third on the reserve list following Salah Abdin and Faruk Saruhan Kuyucak. It turned out to be a coincidence that for tomorrow, Monday, three players have cancelled, so three reserves are allowed to fill in.
Belgian Eric De Busser qualified directly as group winner with 4 points and 0,560 on average. Dutchman Volkan Cetin, who was called up as a substitute and only arrived in Sharm El Sheikh at 1 o'clock Saturday night, fell just outside the top three reserves with 2 match points and 0,931. ''I played a very bad match against Turk Berkay Karakurt, in which both of us could not play well on the tables. It seemed as if they had rubbed the balls with a polish, the cushions were so extremely long. The second match was a difference of day and night''.
In that second game, the Dutchman (after 0,558 in the first game) finished the second match with 2,000 (30 in 15 innings). ''It was just not enough to be among the best three losers''. He hopes to have a small chance if someone else drops out tomorrow. ''If not, I will stay for two more days to get some colour and then I will leave for home on Wednesday.''
Three Dutchmen, besides Cetin also Herman van Daalen with 2 points and 0,819 and Karina Jetten with 2 points and 0,476, were in the second loser group. The Belgians also lost three players: Christian Leten (2 points, 0,479), Alain Saeijs (2 points, 0,438) and Thierry Duson (0 points, 0,358). Well known players who were eliminated are Mahmoud Ayman, Thomas Kerl and Jung Sung-Taek.
The sixteen group winners who continue to the next day:
1 Nikolaus Kogelbauer (Austria) 4-1,621-8
2 Muammer Rahmet (Turkey) 4-1.538-11
3 Ivan Mayor 4-1,111-6
4 Cetin Behzat (Switzerland) 4-1,034-8
5 Savas Gungor (Turkey) 4-1,016-6
6 Gerhard Kostistanski 4-0.983-8
7 Tay Dien Truong (Germany) 4-0.821-5
8 Jan Hudak (Czech Republic) 4-0.800-6
9 Müjde Karakasli (Turkey) 4-0.759-5
10 Patrice Pinard 4-0.606-6
11 Salah Farouk (Egypt) 4-0.571-4
12 Eric De Busser (Belgium) 4-0.555-4
13 Ebrahim Awad (Egypt) 4-0.487-5
14 Berkay Karakurt (Turkey) 3-0.882-8
15 George Karam (USA) 3-0.545-3
16 Luis Mira (Spain) 2-0.580-4
Reserve places:
1 Salah Abdin (Egypt) 3-0.483-3
2 Faruk Saruhan Kuyucak (Turkey) 2-1.020-4
3 Jieun Han (Korea) 2-0.982-4
The groups with known players for Monday:
Group B: Ji Hun Ahn, Jose Maria Mas, George Karam
Group C: Jeffrey Jorissen, Gülsen Degener, Berkay Karakurt
Group E: Hugo Patino, Choong-Bok Lee, Eric De Busser
Group G: Grégory Le Deventec, Jordy de Kruijf, Patrice Pinard
Group H: Mujde Karakasli, Lukas Stamm, Khaled Suboh
Group I: Sung Kyu Oh, Jan Hudak, Fadi Abousaleh
Group K: Gerhard Kostistansky, Tom Löwe, Jamal Soboh
Group O: Carlos Crespo, Muammer Rahmet, Frank Sudar
Group P: Jieun Han, Jean Reverchon, Nikolaus Kogelbauer.
Nikolaus Kogelbauer showed excellent form after he played Lausanne Billard Masters
Turkish player Muammer Rahmet who came up second in the day ranking
Spamish Ivan Mayor who beat Jieun Han in the final sprint
Turkish lady player Müjde Karakasli, moving up to next round with two wins
Belgian player Eric de Busser qualified for next round
Pictures Paul Brekelmans and Hervé Lacombe