GOYANG - The penultimate tour of the men's PBA is in full swing and is mainly about a place among the best 32 players. Those will get to play the PBA World Championship at the end of the season from March 8 to 13. For the lower-ranked players, such as Dani Sánchez and Murat Naci Coklu, the last tournament will be very important, otherwise they will miss the most important tournament of the season. Dani Sánchez and Murat Naci Coklu are currently ranked 61st and were eliminated in the penultimate tournament. Sánchez lost to young Japanese Yusuke Mori, who is already sure of participation in the World championship with his current 11th place ranking. Murat Naci Coklu was eliminated by Adnan Yüksel 3-1, Yüksel also won against Lütfi Cenet 3-1 (average 1.667) in the following round.
Yusuke Mori has now earned his place in the PBA. He already made it to the final once, losing to David Martinez. Against Dani Sánchez, he won on Thursday after 2-2 by penalties (3-2). The Japanese's next opponent is Sung-un Kyun Yim. Semih Sayginer is in the next round after winning against Can Capak 3-0, Javier Palazón won from Si-yon Yu.
Of the strong Koreans, TV player Choong Bok Lee balances on the brink. He is number 125 in the rankings, was again quickly eliminated and is almost certain to be relegated from the top division. In the round of 64, of the Europeans David Martinez and Antonio Montes were eliminated, Juan David Zapata went out of the event earlier against Ki-myung Park. Eddy Leppens lost to Byeong-ho Kim by penalties, but with his current 8th place in the rankings is almost certain to qualify for the World championship.
The ladies are up to the round with the best 8. The matches are:
Ga-young Kim-Bo-mi Kim
Min-joo Baek-Jung-suk Lim
Sruong Pheavy-Hye-ri Jang
Natsumi Higaschiuchi-Kyung-ja Kim.
Yusuke Mori, happy winner in PBA
Sruong Pheavy among the best 8 in the ladies
Choong Bok Lee, position in danger