HANAM - The first win in the LGU+ Cup was eventually also the best on the starting day. Korean star Jae-Ho Cho defeated his countryman Sung-Won Choi in one of the eight matches in the four groups with a sky-high score of 40-17 in eleven innings. Marco Zanetti showed his best guns to beat Torbjörn Blomdahl with a high run of 14. Dick Jaspers had one of his feared final sprints and equalized by six against Tayfun Tasdemir. Dani Sánchez left his good friend Semih Sayginere far behind and Myung-Woo Cho had a better start than HaengJik Kim.
The first sessions in the four groups of four have brought the first separation. The LGU Cup is launched in a big and busy shopping center, where two billiards are on two floors. Eddy Merckx, the winner of two recent tournaments, immediately felt at home. ''There is not a high capacity in the stands, because the organizers mainly focus on shopping people who pass by and keep watching. It doesn't disturb my concentration. I'd rather play with a lot of people around than in a quiet and empty room." The Belgian celebrated his 51st birthday the night before the start with a dinner and a birthday cake from one of his sponsors. He was among the first winners today and defeated Choong-Bok Lee 40-30 in 25 innings.
Quyet Chien Tran, the title holder, had a crushing start with 40-29 in 15 innings against Wan-Young Choi. Tayfun Tasdemir seemed on his way to beat Dick Jaspers when he finished in the 14th inning at 40-34. The world champion, never beaten before the final point has been made, performed another master piece and made the draw from the spots.
Dani Sánchez kickstarted the match and led comfortable, 16-2 after 16 innings against Semih Sayginer. The Spaniard actually was never threatened on the way to victory 40-22 in 23. Myung-Woo Cho started his match against HaengJik Kim with ten, retained his lead despite a few small counters by Kim and won 40-31 in sixteen. Marco Zanetti distanced himself from Torbjörn Blomdahl with 14 in the 5th inning, the best run of the day. That led him to the win when he rapidly neared the final sprint 6-8-4-2, 40-21 in 15 innings.
The standings in the four groups:
Group A:
1 Jae-Ho Cho 2-3,636-10
2 Quyet Chien Tran 2-2,566-8
3 Won Young Choi 0-1,933-11
4 Sung-Won Choi 0-1,545-6
Group B:
1 Dani Sanchez 2-1,739-5
2 Eddy Merckx 2-1,600-8
3 Choong Bok Lee 0-1,200-6
4 Semih Sayginer 0-0,956-4
Dani Sánchez, kickstarting the match with Semih Sayginer
Eddy Merckx, a birthday party and a win
Group C:
1 Jung-Han Heo 2-1,904-9
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 1-2,857-8
3 Dick Jaspers 1-2,857-7
4 Bong Chul Kim 0-1,047-4
Tayfun Tasdemir seemed on his way to win: Jaspers equalized with 6
Dick Jaspers, one of his feared final rushes
Jung-Han Heo, leader in his group with 2 match points
Group D:
1 Marco Zanetti 2-2,666-14
2 Myung-Woo Cho 2-2,500-10
3 HaengJik Kim 0-1,937-7
4 Torbjörn Blomdahl 0-1,400-5.
Myung-Woo Cho, gruelling start and win over HaengJik Kim
HaengJik Kim, beaten by his young countryman
Matches for second round, Friday:
14.00: Tran-SW Choi and Cho-WJ Choi
15.30: Sayginer-Lee and Merckx-Sánchez
17.00: Tasdemir-Heo and Jaspers-BC Kim
18.30: Zanetti-MW Cho and Blomdahl-HJ Kim.