CAIRO - In the shadow of the famous pyramids, in a golden playroom in Cairo, Dick Jaspers captured the world title in three cushion on Saturday night. The 53-year-old Dutch billiard player had a fabulous end rush in the final against Frenchman Jérémy Bury, who ended 40-40 in the regular match and 3-2 in the penalty series. The overjoyed Jaspers seized the most coveted title, received the trophy with three golden pyramids on stage and the 20.000 euro's for the winner. Dutch billiards is a new champion richer. Two weeks ago, Therese Klompenhouwer won the world title in women's billiards. For Dick Jaspers, it was his fourth global title in his career.
The new champion, successor to the Belgian Frédéric Caudron, was on top of the podium with Jérémy Bury, who was one carom away from his first world title. Turk Semih Sayginer and Vietnamese Nguyen Quoc Nguyen finished third. The crowning came to Jaspers after an unprecedentedly strong and undefeated championship, in which he played high averages, put up exciting fights and reached his highlights on the final day against two other stars in Cairo, Semih Sayginer and Jérémy Bury. The overall average of Jaspers was a world record: 2.352. Never before was such an average played at a World championship. The last record came from Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma in Bolivia last year, when he played 2.123.
,,The world title is magical, the best you can win as a sportsman'', Jaspers commented after the final and the ceremony. ,,It makes me very happy that I could win this championship. I felt mentally very strong during the entire tournament and I managed to give my best with victories in decisive moments. I am already one of the oldest players and I don't have many years to go. That's s why I was so hungry on winning this title.'' Dick Jaspers won his first three world titles in 2000 in Saint Etienne, in 2004 in Rotterdam and in 2011 in Lima.
The Dutchman later pointed to the heroic finish against Semih Sayginer. ,,It was the most wonderful match of the tournament for me, because Semih was very strong, he's all the way back to the world top. It was great to win that match with the run of eight to the end.'' The final also turned into a great performance. Jaspers and Bury were in balance until the break (20-20 in 6), Jaspers took the lead with runs 7 and 5 to 35-26, but Bury fought back and was the first to finish at 40-36.
Dick Jaspers: ,,I started from the spots and then made three fantastic balls. That gave me a great satisfaction. I actually had a mental advantage over my opponent, because I already won three titles and he could only win his first. Yet, we both felt a lot of tension at the end. He scored twice in the penalties, I could answer with three. Yes, I was very happy, I wanted to show my joy to the audience. I am running into a wonderful year again as the world champion. I also would like to say that I've signed a unique sponsor contract at this World championship I am for 28 years playing for Longoni as my big sponsor. I received many offers, but I have signed again for three years.''
Jérémy Bury, who was so close to his first gold, could look back at a great tournament as the number two of the world. The Frenchman not only beat the titleholder Frédéric Caudron, also the Vietnamese coming-man Tran and Korean Cho. Jaspers: ,,I have great admiration for Bury, who forced me to the limit. He certainly deserved it when he had become world champion.''
The semifinals of the championship:
Semih Sayginer-Dick Jaspers 37-40 in 16.
The strong final rush of Dick Jaspers was his rescue in the semi-finals. When Semih Sayginer came closer and closer to the end, the Dutchman suddenly showed his mental resilience. The scoreboard pointed 37-32 in Sayginer's favour, Jaspers fought for his last chances and was brilliant in his winning run of eight. The knock-down felt hard for Sayginer, who so eagerly seemed on his way for new global success. The Turk ran away from his opponent by a run in the 14th inning, when Sayginer increased the margin to 33-27 and to 35-28 in the next inning. Jaspers first struck back with 4 (35-32), Semih missed and then ran into Jaspers's knock-out. The mighty final run decided the match, in which the Dutchman was the best starter with 5 and 6 (16-7 in 6), Sayginer took the lead for the first time around the break with runs of 7 and 5. The Turkish offensive was parried and later converted into Dutch success: 40-37 in 16 (2.500/2.313).
Jérémy Bury-Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 40-20 in 19
On his way to his first World championship final, Jérémy Bury had a walk-over against the Asian champion. During ten innings. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen set the pace, running after a start with seven to 9-4, 15-9, but he lost his way in a poor second half. The Frenchman, who had given a boost to his self-confidence after his victory over Caudron, showed his high class as in his best year (2016). The two players, Bury and Nguyen, also met in the group stage. The Vietnamese was the strongest then 40-13 in 18. The roles were reversed in the match in the knock-out, when the pressure was on. Jérémy Bury could handle it better than his opponent. The match was decided in the fifteenth inning, when Bury came to 33-20 with a run and Nguyen was down for the count. The Vietnamese, who were on their best in the first part of the tournament, were not ready for a first world title.
At this 71st World championship, many former champions were eliminated in the early knock-out stages. Frédéric Caudron lost his world title, Dani Sánchez, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Eddy Merckx and Marco Zanetti couldn't show the level to play a leading role in the race. Most striking was the early elimination of many Koreans and the advance of a small army of Vietnamese players, led by the Asian champion Nguyen. In the first days, Tonny Carlsen, the former European top player, was one of the star players. The Scandinavian champion is dreaming of a return on stage, finished fifth and scored the highest run of the tournament: 19 against Colomian Jose Juan Garcia. Dick Jaspers played the best match, 40 in 11 innings against Robinson Morales.
Dick Jaspers celebrating the world title after the victory over Bury in the final match
The four players on stage: left to right Jérémy Bury, Dick Jaspers, Semih Sayginer and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen
The final ranking:
1 Dick Jaspers 14-2.352-12
2 Jérémy Bury 10-2.022-8
3 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 10-1.629-11
3 Semih Sayginer 8-1.568-10
5 Tonny Carlsen 8-1.920-19
6 Minh Cam Ma 8-1.571-9
7 Tayfun Tasdemir 8-1.544-12
8 Quyet Chien Tran 6-1.598-12
9 Frédéric Caudron 6-2.211-12
10 Jung-Han Heo 6-1.540-11
11 Eddy Leppens 6-1.435-14
12 Ruben Legazpi 5-1.648-6
13 Torbjörn Blomdahl 4-1.746-10
14 Dinh Nai Ngo 4-1.579-14
15 Sameh Sidhom 4-1.441-11
16 Robinson Morales 4-1.394-7.
The new world ranking after Cairo: Caudron is still leading the pack, Jaspers climbed to nr. 2, only 46 points behind the Belgian. Semih Sayginer made a high jump (8 places) and is on 7 now, Nguyen climbed to nr 9 position. Dani Sánchez lost his position in top 12 and is on 17 now.
1 Caudron 426 (-)
2 Jaspers 380 (+3)
3 HJ Kim 304 (-)
4 Merckx 276 (-2)
5 Zanetti 250 (-1)
6 Heo 246 (-)
7 Sayginer 243 (+8)
8 Tran 243 (+4)
9 Nguyen 241 (+5)
10 Sidhom 232 (+1)
11 Coklu 230 (-2)
12 Blomdahl 226 (-2)
13 Choi 224 (-6)
14 Cho 224 (-6)
15 Tasdemir 195 (+1)
16 Bury 191 (+4)
17 Sanchez 184 (-4)
18 Ngo 180 (-1)
19 Leppens 166 (-1)
20 Polychronopoulos 154 (-1)
Jaspers and Bury in a hug after the final
Jérémy Bury, the great silver winner at the World's stage
Tonny Carlsen, great performance, back on his way to a top positon, best run of the tournament: 19