CARTAGENA – On the first day of two World Championships, the Spanish billiards arena in Cartagena welcomed the familiar top players and a few new, young names. Charlotte Sörensen, the outgoing champion, has already disappeared from the tables after two unexpected losses. Therese Klompenhouwer was the best in the field after two games, albeit with a modest average. Bo Mi Choi from Korea knocked the champion out of the tournament. Ha Eun Kim (Korea), Yuko Nishimoto (Japan), and Thi Lien Nguyen (Vietnam) are challengers to the favorites. Charlotte Sörensen, who has not played her best World Games either, had a false start against Choi (25-18 in 28) and demonstrated in her second match how shaky her form is by losing to the second Japanese player, Noriko Fukao: 25-17 in 39. Sörensen's elimination, with 0 match points and a 0.522 average, comes as a hammer blow. To make matters worse, the second Danish player, Nanna Petersen, also disappeared from the scene.
Two of the three players in the eight groups qualified for the top 16 will start the knockouts tomorrow, Wednesday, at 12:00 noon.
The Dutch-Belgian clash between Therese Klompenhouwer and Jaimie Buelens was one of the most notable matches on the opening day. The Dutch player started strongly with 5 and 3 (8-3 in 2), extending her lead to 16-7 in 9, but suffered a slump from the tenth inning onwards. That resulted in 8 zeros and two 1s in ten innings. The Belgian fought her way back into the match, coming to 21-20 with a run of five, but Klompenhouwer finished strong with a run of 3 to win 25-22 in 25. The Dutch player then won her second match against Krausova 25-11 in 34.
21-year-old Korean Bo Mi Choi is sure to be a tough rival for the European favorites. With a flawless start and a victory over Charlotte Sörensen (25-18 in 28), the Asian player got off to a flying start. Bo Mi Choi is no stranger, by the way. Two years ago, in a women's Survival tournament in Seoul, Shin Young Lee won ahead of Bo Mi Choi and Therese Klompenhouwer. Shin Young Lee has since moved to the Korean professional league LPBA with a world title under her belt.
Claudia Chaccon, a new name among the Colombians, had a surprising start with a win against Guzin Mujde Karakasli (25-19 in 30), but Jackeline Perez from Peru immediately brought the excitement back with a win over Chaccon: 25-22 in 46. Perez also beat Karakasli and became the number 1 in this group.
Kim Ha Eun, the other Korean, was already known from her first World Championship appearance in Blois last year. She is certainly also among the podium contenders with solid victories against Yuko Nishimoto (25-19 in 32) and Ana Suarez (25-16 in 34).. Karina Jetten had a tough group with Magali Declunder and Nanna Petersen. She gave the French woman no chance with 25-12 in 29 and took the lead in the group against Nanna Petersen with a draw: 25-25 in 43.
The highest averages, all below 1, were achieved by Therese Klompenhouwer with 0.847, Bo Mi Choi with 0.793, Ha Eun Kim with 0.757, Yuko Nishimoto with 0.745, Gülsen Degener with 0.700, Karina Jetten and Estela Cardoso with 0.694, Ayaka Miyashita with 0.632, and Claudia Chacon with 0.618.
The group rankings:
Poule A:
Bo Mi Choi 4-0.793-5
Noriko Fukao 2-0.635-4
Charlotte Sörensen 0-0.522-4
Poule B:
Therese Klompenhouwer 4-0.847-5
Jaimie Buelens 2-0.587-5
Veronika Krausova 0-0.292-2
Poule C:
Karina Jetten 3-0.694-8
Magali Declunder 2-0.578-2
Nana Petersen 1-0.525-3
Poule D:
Jackeline Perez 4-0.595-4
Claudia Chacon 2-0.618-4
Guzin Mujde Karakasli 0-0.529-4
Poule E:
Johana Sandoval 4-0.588-5
Litsa Mavridoglou 2-0.411-6
Gisell Monroy 0-0.329-3
Poule F:
Ha Eun Kim 4-0.757-4
Yuko Nishimoto 2-0.745-5
Poule G:
Thi Lien Nguyen 4-0.625-141
Estela Cardoso 2-0.694-3
Claudia Lalinde 0-0.37—5
Ayaka Miyashita 4-0.632-4
Gülsen Degener 2-0.700-6
Steffi Tram 0-0.492-5
The matches for Wednesday in the first knockouts are:
12:00:
Therese Klompenhouwer-Litsa Mavridoglou
Karina Jetten-Yuko Nishimoto
Noriko Fukao-Thi Lien Nguyen
Claudia Chacon-Ayaka Miyashita
14:00:
Ha Eun Kim-Jaimie Buelens
Estela Cardoso-Jackeline Perez
Gülsen Degener-Johana Sandoval
Bo Mi Choi-Magali Declunder
The Danish ladies Charlotte Sörensen (right) and Nanna Petersen didn't qualify for the knock-out5s
Korean Bo Mi Choi, one of the main contenders
Therese Klompenhouwer, best in average
Ha Eun Kim
Johana Sandoval
Karina Jetten
Thi Lien Nguyễn
Ayaka Miyashita