VILA NOVA DE GAIA - The World championship has entered the knockout phase this afternoon with sixteen players, who meet in two sessions of four matches (13.00 and 15.00). Then the playing room will be changed: the tournament continues in a room with one table and stands for one hundred and fifty spectators to follow the matches.
The next sessions are extremely interesting, not only because of the question who will close the WC on the podium on Sunday, also because of the position in the world rankings after Sunday.
Three Turkish players are still in the tournament (Tasdemir, Coklu and Cenet), who are on the spots 13, 14 and 15 now, so just behind the top twelve positions which are so important for the automatic seeding in World Cups.
What did the preliminaries show us?
1 Dick Jaspers, who defends his title in Porto, saw his form and confidence growing in his to matches leading to the knockout rounds, where he meets the Japanese rookie O Takeshima.
2 Frédéric Caudron had a sparkling start and easily qualified. He is - as the number one in the world, of course one of the major contenders for the title. And for sure one of the most attractive players in Porto.
3 Murat Naci Coklu, the European champion from 2004 in Oludeniz (Turkey), before Martin Horn and Torbjörn Blomdahl, looks back at the front. The spotlights are focused on him especially as the number one ranking after the preliminary rounds.
4 Kyung-Roul Kim, the new Asian champion, still is the most feared Korean, as he showed in his first round matches with his great playing style and inimitable solutions.
5 Eddy Merckx fueled much confidence with his victory in the Superprestige last week, where he beat Frédéric Caudron in the finals with a spectacular finish. The little Belgian is balancing on the right side of the rankings at twelve and will start with much ambitions in the final rounds.
6 Heriberto Aristazabal is the only South American in the field of sixteen, a player with a fast, uninhibited playing style, an attraction for the public.
7 Lütfi Cenet is worrying about his sick father in Turkey, but showed that he can focus on the billiard at the right moments. He craves at this World championship, like his two compatriots, to a spot in the top twelve.
8 Sameh Sidhom is in the final rounds of a WC for the first time in his career. That's a relief for the young dentist, who eagers to enter the top of the rankings after his for Egypt historic victory against Jae Ho Cho.
9 Dani Sánchez is the winner of three world titles, he can peak as nobody else to these tournaments and moreover feels at home in Porto, where he performs in his European Cup matches.
10 Marco Zanetti was especially very solid in his first matches. The Italian stylist has that not much surplus in the rankings and defends the points he won last year with his silver medal at the World championships in Lima.
11 O Takeshima is the absolute outsider, a lovely boy, who looks much younger than 36 that he really is. His teachers, Nobuaki Kobayashi and Martin Horn, can be proud that the Japanese has come so far in this tournament.
12 Jérémy Bury shone with a few high runs so far and has not been in trouble. He faces Frédéric Caudron today, his captain in the Agipi team. Much worse it couldn't have turned out in the draw, but the Frenchman is known for his great fighting spirit.
13 Martin Horn could escape to elimination against Raimond Burgman, because the Dutchman fought with himself and because his concentration was disrupted by a failing referee.
Today (Friday 13:00, Portuguese time) the first matches have been started for the eighth finals:
Murat Naci Coklu-Heriberto Aristazabal
Dani Sánchez-Marco Zanetti
Choong-Bok Lee-Tayfun Tasdemir
Lutfi Cenet-Sung-Won Choi.