HO CHI MINH CITY - The ranking looks nice for Eddy Merckx (top 5), the memory of the next World Cup in Ho Chi Minh (Nguyen Du Stadium) is wonderful. The 54-year-old Belgian leaves for Vietnam this Monday, where he won the World Cup these days last year in a final against Marco Zanetti. He has risen to fourth position in the world rankings in these turbulent months with UMB and PBA and feels at home in his own familiar surroundings (UMB). ''I didn't get any offer this year, because surely they know there in Korea that I will stay here,'' Eddy Merckx assures with his well-known sobriety. Two days before his departure, together with Dick Jaspers, to the Vietnamese billiards stronghold, he is playing for the Belgian Cup today (Saturday) and Sunday.
Eddy Merckx was still surprised by the move of players like Dani Sánchez and Semih Sayginer to PBA. ’’To be honest, I didn't expect that anymore,'' he confessed. ’’I thought everyone was at his place now after those first years with PBA.'' But due to developments in recent weeks, Sánchez and Sayginer will thus be absent in the upcoming Ho Chi Minh World Cup (22-28 May) and Turk Murat Naci Coklu and Vietnamese Duc Anh Chien Nguyen play for the last time in the World Cup cycle
A meeting has been announced for the days during Ho Chi Minh on 27 May between UMB and PBA officials where possible cooperation will be debated. Eddy Merckx is curious, but no more than that. ’’We will hear what comes out, but I cannot imagine that players with fat contracts at the PBA will play together with us in the same events. That would mean that we, UMB players, are now being punished because we have always remained loyal to our own federation.''
The outcome, otherwise, does not concern him much. ’’I enjoy a nice life here in Europe, I’m comfortable together with my wife and we keep it that way. I would definitely never want to live in Korea for eight months in a year. And finally, there are also nice tournaments announced for the UMB where we can make good money.'' Merckx cherishes his current position in the rankings and travels to Vietnam with great confidence. ''My place at the top is a bit more safe than in previous years, when I was usually around 7th, 8th place, but on the other hand I have my 80 points from Ho Chi Minh last year and 54 points from the World champion which I must miss at the end of this year. But of course, I agree that it's a pity for the billiard world that some great players have left again.''
Dick Jaspers still leads the seeding list of best 14 players in Ho Chi Minh City where Martin Horn has been designated as a replacement for Duc Anh Chien Nguyen, who is leaving for the PBA but has been given a wildcard in his last World Cup this week. The players on the seeding list are:
Dick Jaspers, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti, Eddy Merckx, Haeng Jik Kim, Sameh Sidhom, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Myung Woo Cho, Jérémy Bury, Quyet Chien Tran, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jung Han Heo, Martin Horn, Jun Tae Kim.
Wildcards were handed out to Mashhour Abu Tayeh (30), Duc Anh Chien Nguyen (18), Thanh Luc Tran (44).
Dick Jaspers has 471 points in the current world rankings and leads the standings ahead of Marco Zanetti with 391, Dani Sánchez with 358 (not playing and dropping out of the rankings), Tayfun Tasdemir with 340 and Eddy Merckx with 325. That ranking continues with Torbjörn Blomdahl, Haeng Jik Kim, Sameh Sidhom, Myung Woo Cho, Semih Sayginer (PBA, so drops out), Jérémy Bury, Quyet Chien Tran, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jung Han Heo and Jun Tae Kim (Martin Horn is DAC Nguyen's replacement in the top 14).
The best-known players in the run-up to the main tournament are Berkay Karakurt, Murat Naci Coklu, Ruben Legazpi, Michael Nilsson, Roland Forthomme, Peter Ceulemans, Myeong Jong Cha, Chang Hoon Seo, Lütfi Cenet, Luis Aveiga, Jeffrey Jorissen and Phuong Vinh Bao.
The tournament director is Minh Hoang Nguyen. The matches will be broadcast on YouTube from Monday (22 May) to Sunday (28 May) by a new partner, the video streaming service AfreecaTV, which link will be announced these days.
Early starters include especially many seeded Vietnamese (from the preliminary rounds with 500 players) and Koreans on the opening day on Monday.
From Tuesday (among others): Burak Hashas, Alessio D'Agata, Ahmet Alp, Huub Wilkowski, Ronald van Geyt, Takeshima O, Vincent Lelievre, Alain Says, Takao Miyashita.
From Wednesday: Robinson Morales, Tolgahan Kiraz, Jose Maria Mas, Omer Karakurt, Pierre Soumagne, Thomas Andersen, Sam van Etten, Joey de Kok, Ryuuji Umeda, David Pennör, Kostas Kokkoris, Thanh Thai Nguyen, Raymon Groot, Volkan Cetin, Jose Miguel Soares, Rui Manuel Costa, Gökhan Salman, Ji Hun Ahn, Ja In Kang, Turgay Orak.
Ho Chi Minh City where the World Cup will be played this week