Caudron leads a star-studded field as the World Championship enters its decisive phase
The group stage of the 78th World Championship 3-Cushion Individual in Blois is complete, and the field has now been reduced from 48 players to 32 players for the knockout stage.
The qualification phase produced some spectacular performances, with defending champion Frédéric Caudron ?? finishing clearly at the top of the qualification ranking. His 3.076 overall average was built over just 26 innings, including his extraordinary 40-17 victory over Maxime Panaia in only 10 innings.
The Belgian is joined at the top of the ranking by fellow countryman Peter Ceulemans ??, who was outstanding in Group J. Ceulemans won both matches and finished on 2.758, including a 40-15 win over Huberney Catano in just 12 innings.
Tayfun Taşdemir ?? and Marco Zanetti ?? complete the top four, with 2.285 and 2.222 respectively.
A strong group stage for the leading names
Several of the world's biggest names finished their groups with four match points.
Sameh Sidhom ?? topped Group D with 1.600, while Martin Horn ?? won Group E at the same average. Myung Woo Cho ??, the recent Lier World Cup winner, also went unbeaten and finished on 1.538.
Jean van Erp ?? continued his excellent tournament with four points and 1.538, while Raymundo Munoz ??, Ruben Legazpi ??, Phuong Vinh Bao ?? and Quyet Chien Tran ?? also won their groups.
The group stage also produced an intriguing result in Group K, where Dick Jaspers ?? and Torbjörn Blomdahl ?? both finished on three match points. Jaspers took first place with a 1.379 average, while Blomdahl finished second at 1.194.
Berkay Karakurt fights back
After losing his opening match to Van Erp, Berkay Karakurt ?? responded in spectacular fashion.
The Turkish player demolished Dimitrios Seleventas 40-14 in just 15 innings, averaging 2.666 with a high run of 9. That victory was enough to secure second place in Group G behind Van Erp.
He now moves into the knockout stage with a much better feeling after a difficult start.
Three French players survive
The host nation will have three players in the last 32.
Maxime Panaia ?? finished second behind Caudron in Group A, while Mikael Devogelaere ?? took second in Group I behind Phuong Vinh Bao. Devogelaere finished with a solid 1.736 average.
Jérémy Bury ?? also recovered from a difficult opening match to qualify second in Group O. His 40-34 victory over Vietnam's Hong Thai Chau gave him the two match points he needed, and he finished the group on 1.454.
Pierre Soumagne, however, was eliminated after losing both matches in Group C. Eddy Merckx ?? ended his campaign with a decisive 40-13 victory in 17 innings, taking second place behind Tom Löwe.
The knockout stage is ready
The 32-player field is now set, with the knockout matches played to 50 points without equalizing innings, in contrast to the 40-point group matches.
The opening Round of 32 matches in Blois are:
12:00
- Frédéric Caudron ?? – Haeng Jik Kim ??
- Ye Sung Jeong ?? – Torbjörn Blomdahl ??
- Sameh Sidhom ?? – Jérémy Bury ??
- Quyet Chien Tran ?? – Glenn Hofman ??
14:30
- Myung Woo Cho ?? – Huberney Catano ??
- Raymundo Munoz ?? – Eddy Merckx ??
- Jean van Erp ?? – Jun Hyuk Son ??
- Marco Zanetti ?? – Maxime Panaia ??
17:00
- Tayfun Taşdemir ?? – Mohamed Abdin ??
- Tom Löwe ?? – Mikael Devogelaere ??
- Ruben Legazpi ?? – William Villanueva ??
- Martin Horn ?? – Thanh Luc Tran ??
19:30
- Phuong Vinh Bao ?? – Roland Forthomme ??
- Alexander Salazar ?? – Berkay Karakurt ??
- Dick Jaspers ?? – Jung Han Heo ??
- Peter Ceulemans ?? – José Miguel Soares ??
These matchups are confirmed by the published Blois knockout schedule.
The group stage is over. From here on, one match means one winner and one eliminated player — and with Caudron, Ceulemans, Zanetti, Taşdemir, Cho, Jaspers, Merckx and the rest of the world's elite all in the same 32-player field, the World Championship is entering its most exciting phase.
Pictures: Ton Smilde:
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