LA BAULE - The 2017 World Cup circuit is on its way to the second last stop in La Baule, France. The young Korean Haeng-Jik Kim is leading the World Cup ranking after two successive wins. The final winner will be rewarded for the first time with 5000 euros, donated by the UMB, at the end of the year. The top 12 receives a total of 24.000 euros. Haeng-Jik Kim has a 45 points lead over Dick Jaspers in the top five of the current ranking, followed by Dani Sánchez who is 56 down, Eddy Merckx 66 and Torbjörn Blomdahl 72. The last World Cup this season is played in El Gouna, Egypt.
The French resort of La Baule, with its beautiful cliffs and views at the Atlantic Ocean, has a twelve kilometre sand beach, is part of the Côte d'Amour and located in the Loire-Atlantique department. The monumental city grew in hundred years from 2.700 to 17.000 inhabitants and is a huge tourist attraction in the summer months with thousands of Parisians who spend their holidays here. Last year, La Baule organized its first World Cup. Joël Switala, the tournament director, has formed a competition team with Frédéric Caudron, Jérémy Bury and Jean Paul de Bruijn, crowned with the French title for teams last year.
In the circuit of seven World Cups, La Baule is the third European organization following Bursa (Turkey) and Porto (Portugal) this year. Two World Cups were held in Asia (Vietnam and South Korea), one in Luxor (Egypt) and also the last in Egypt. Frédéric Caudron, Dani Sánchez, Eddy Merckx and Haeng-Jik Kim (twice) were the previous winners. Murat Naci Coklu defends his title in La Baule, where the Turk defeated Dani Sánchez in last years final. Jérémy Bury returns as one of the contenders after missing out on the last World Cup in Korea.
The European contingent is represented by 110 participants, much more than the rest of the world with 40. The bulk of this is from Asia and Egypt. The Americans (North and South) have no players in this tournament in the run-up to the World championship in Bolivia.
The fourteen seeded players are Dani Sánchez, Dick Jaspers, Marco Zanetti, Frédéric Caudron, Haeng-Jik Kim, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jérémy Bury, Murat Naci Coklu, Eddy Merckx, Sameh Sidhom, Jung Han Heo, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Quyet Chien Tran. The wildcards holders are Jérôme Barbeillon, Sung-Won Choi and Jean Paul de Bruijn.
The most famous players in the qualifications:
Semih Sayginer, Tayfun Tasdemir, Lütfi Cenet, Dong-Koong Kang, Jae-Ho Cho, Minh Cam Ma, Anh Vu Duong, Jae-Guen Kim, Javier Palazón, Myung-Woo Cho, David Martinez, Roland Forthomme, Carlos Crespo, Juan David Zapata, Glenn Hofman.
The tournament hall is in the Complex Sportif des Salines. The opening ceremony is on Friday, October 27th at 11.00. The qualifications start on Monday. The prize money: 1st 8000 euro, 2nd 5000,-, 3rd and 4th 3000,-.
Tournament director: Joël Switala
All matches are broadcast live on kozoom.com
Murat Naci Coklu, last years winner in La Baule
The city of La Baule with its 12 km sand beaches