VIERSEN – The World team championship is one of the tournaments that has earned Torbjörn Blomdahl his immense reputation. The Swede has shone with nine gold medals, twice with his father Lennart, even more so with Michael Nilsson, with whom he won the World Championship seven times. The Swedes achieved this feat among others from 2005 to 2009. This year, Blomdahl is playing with David Pennör and, as the all-time record holder, is aiming for another podium finish. He closed out the preliminary rounds for Sweden last Friday evening with a fantastic match against Nick Polychronopoulos. Blomdahl crushed the Greek flag bearer with a 40-14 in 11 innings (3.636 on average). He started with 11, made a 6 in the 3rd inning, and then another 11 in the 5th for a 31-9 lead in 5 innings. It was the best match so far, despite three misses just before Blomdahl finished with a 40-14 victory in 11.
With the Netherlands' 4-0 victory over Belgium, it led to the top positions in Group C for Holland and Sweden. And it's no coincidence that two players from these countries are also the best in match points and average so far. Blomdahl has 2.307 on average over three matches with his last win in 11, Hofman, also with 6 match points, has 1.812 on average. The top two in Group C was already secured after Glenn Hofman won his match against Brants 40-21 in 19. The Belgians then could no longer overtake the Netherlands and Sweden. In the final two matches of the second day, Dick Jaspers defeated Eddy Merckx 40-31 in 26, and David Pennör bested Dimitrios Seleventas 40-39 in 28.
Final standings in Group C:
1 Netherlands 9-1,722-9
2 Sweden 9-1,683-11
3 Belgium 5-1,427-11
4 Greece 1-1,191-7
Dick Jaspers was the better of Eddy Merckx, Netherlands went on, Belgium is out
Group D:
Pedro Piedrabuena's undefeated record in Viersen so far and Raymon Groot's upset against Ruben Legazpi paved the way for the USA to win the group. That was the surprising outcome of Group D, where the Spanish initially held the upper hand but later in the evening lost twice to the USA. Piedrabuena secured victory against Sergio Jimenez 40-23 in 28, and Raymon Groot, a Dutch native, salvaged his tournament with a win over Legazpi: 40-34 in 25. The Spanish even dropped to second place, which also secured qualification. But even more unexpected was South Korea's elimination, where Myung Woo Cho won twice and lost to Ruben Legazpi, and Wan Young Choi, a sub-top player in Asia, lost three times. The Koreans finished in third place with 4 match points, the same as Egypt with Sidhom and Ayman, who finished even lower than South Korea in average. For the Koreans, World winners in 2017 and 2018, it was a bitter disappointment.
Final standings in Group D:
1 USA 8-1,422-7
2 Spain 8-1,409-12
3 Korea 4-1,482-10
4 Egypt 4-1,183-11
Pedro Piedrabuena, undefeated in his three matches
Standings in the groups with two matches remaining on Saturday:
Group A:
With one match remaining against Japan (Saturday, 1:30 PM), the Turks are assured of a place in the top eight. Colombia, which lost its second match against the Turks, needs at least a draw in its final match against Jordan. The Turks won their second match against Colombia 4-0: Tasdemir knocked out Gonzalez 40-33 in 23, and Karakurt defeated Cataño 40-26 in 20.
1 Turkey 7-1,568-13
2 Colombia 4-1,032-7
3 Jordan 3-1,030-7
4 Japan 2-1,032-7
Group B:
The Germans are already guaranteed a place, the French are definitely eliminated. Vietnam plays France on Saturday at 11:00 and needs at least a draw. Martin Horn is undefeated for his country with two wins, and Quyet Chien Tran is undefeated for Vietnam.
1 Germany 6-1,533-11
2 Vietnam 5-1,436-8
3 Mexico 2-1,294-7
4 France 2-1,294-7