ANTALYA - Two young three cushion stars in their twenties, with a bright future, were in the spotlights on the second day of the World Cup in Antalya. The Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal, recently the European junior champion and the Japanese Yusuke Mori both shone with quick wins and high averages. The Turkish veteran Savas Bulut was the day's best with four match points and 2.222 average.
Torbjörn Blomdahl cancelled his participation in the World Cup in Antalya today. The Swedish world's number six underwent a surgery on Friday, of which he is recovering. ,,I'm not allowed to travel, that forced me to stay home. It means that I will focus from now on the next World Cup in Vietnam next month.'' The absence of Blomdahl is a rarity. The Swedish world class player almost never missed a World Cup in his long career.
Three players who returned to the World Cup stage in Antalya, are eliminated after two days. Filippos Kasidokosta faced a hard knockout in his fight with the Korean Chang Hoon Seo, who finished with a final run of ten (40-18 in 15). Gerhard Kostistansky stayed well below his level with two losses and a poor average of 0.864. Ahmet Bayatli will not return on Wednesday after his lost match against German Cengiz Karaca.
Gwendal Maréchal, a young talent from Brittany, shows a lot of confidence and high class after he won the European junior title in Ronchin. In his home country, Maréchal dethroned the Spanish world champion Carlos Anguita. He announced after that championship to play some World Cups this year. The Turkish tournament is his first appearance. The Frenchman started against Turk Vedat Yilmaz, reached the break after six innings and won 30-15 in 19 (1.578). In his second match, Maréchal faced the German ex-world champion Christian Rudolph. Launched by a 10-run, Maréchal won without being in trouble, 30-19 in 17, good for 1.666 average over two matches.
Yusuke Mori, the still youthful Japanese, already played some more World Cups, but never was on the podium of a Junior World championship. The sixth place in Guri, 2015, where Tae-Kwan Kim won, was his best achievement. In Antalya, Mori faced two Koreans, Kyung-Nam Kim Ko and Saeng Ku Kang, whom he defeated 30-8 in 18 and 30-23 in 16 innings (1.764 over two matches).
Savas Bulut, once on stage at the Kocaeli Cup in Turkey, was the day's star in his group with Ramazan Durdu and Allen Schröder. The German was defeated 30-16 in 13 innings, the Dane 30-24 in 14 with a run of 12 and 2.222 as a final result. Therefor, Bulut led the second day's ranking followed by the German Cengiz Karaka, who eliminated Bayatli 30-21 in 19, 1.764.
The Korean Hyun-Suk Kim was impressive with 1.621 average. Muammer Rahmet was not far behind 1.538, like Chang Hoon Seo in the group with Kasidokostas with 1.578. Turgay Orak, one of the stars on the first day, shone with a run of twelve.
The ranking on day two:
1 Savas Bulut 4-2.222-12
2 Cengiz Karaca 4-1.764-8
3 Yusuke Mori 4-1.764-6
4 Gwendal Maréchal 4-1.666-10
5 Hyun-Suk Kim 4-1.621-5
6 Chang Hoon Seo 4-1.578-10
7 Muammer Rahmet 4-1.538-7
8 Hakan Incekara 4-1.500-10
9 Savas Gungor 4-1.395-9
10 In-Won Kang 4-1.333-8
11 Trung Hau Do Nguyen 4-1.304-7
12 Turgay Orak 4-1.250-12
13 Jung Wan Lim 4-1.224-6
14 Hamit Akkaya 4-0.952-6
15 Sung Il Jeong 3-1.250-3
16 Ome Karakurt 2-1.195-9.
Two Koreans (William Oh, Kyung-Nam Ko) and Kasidokostas finished in the top three of the runners-up list.
The groups for Wednesday:
Poule A: Birol Uymaz, Omer Karakurt, Atsushi Kiyota
Poule B: David Pennör, Sung Il Jeong, Dionisis Tsokantas
Poule C: Ali Kemal Gunaydin, Hamit Akkaya, Dustin Jäschke
Poule D: Kostas Papakonstantinou, Jung Wan Lim, Regay Henry
Poule E: Mashhour Abu Tayeh, Turgay Orak, Jean Paul de Bruijn
Poule F: Gökhan Salman, Trung Hau Do Nguyen, Kwang Yeol Park
Poule G: Tolgahan Kiraz, Kostas Kokkoris, In-Won Kang
Poule H: Jung Ju Shin, Savas Gungor, Khaled Salem
Poule I: Hideaki Kobayashi, Mehmet Goren, Hakan Incekara
Poule J: Jin Pyo Hong, Murat Celik, Muammer Rahmet
Poule K: Jérôme Barbeillon, Glenn Hofman, Chang Hoon Seo
Poule L: Ronny Lindemann, Hyun-Suk Kim, Arnim Kahofer
Poule M: Ji Hun Ahn, Gwendal Maréchal, Therese Klompenhouwer
Poule N: Hyung Bum Hwang, Murat Tüzül, Yusuke Mori
Poule O: Ahmed Eman, Cengiz Karaca, Wan Young Choi
Poule P: Quang Hao Truong, Ahmet Alp, Savas Bulut.
Gwendal Maréchal, the European junior champion, among the top five
Japanese player Yusuke Mori, 4 match points, high average