3-Cushion
PORTO - With a glimmer of imagination, one number one in billiards played against another number one in the Porto World Cup. Quyet Chien Tran, leader of the UMB rankings, faced Frédéric Caudron, until recently the best player in the PBA circuit. The Belgian had the better start and best chances in the prestige match, the Vietnamese came up with the best final sprint, winning 40-38 in 18 innings (2.222 and 2.111 on average). That made no difference to the qualification for the knock-outs with 16 players. The same as other leaders, like Dick Jaspers, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti, Myung Woo Cho and Jung Han Heo, both Tran and Caudron will face the battle for the top positions on Friday and Saturday.
The match between Tran and Caudron was evenly matched towards the end with the Belgian in the most favorable position in the final stages. Caudron was at 37 in the 16th inning when Tran went on the attack with 11 and came back into the match at 37-35. Luck was not on Caudron's side with a curious miss on 38, after which Tran managed to finish with 4 and 1: 40-38 in 18 innings.
The decisive fights for qualification among the best 16 on this first day of the World Cup was played mainly in rival clashes between Berkay Karakurt and Birol Uymaz, Myung Woo Cho and Glenn Hofman, Frédéric Caudron and Javier Vera, Jérémy Bury and Torbjörn Blomdahl, Peter Ceulemans and Nikos Polychronopoulos and Sameh Sidhom and Hong Chiem Thai.
Tayfun Tasdemir is the top winner at the end of the day with 6 match points and 2.264 on average, six players, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti, Dick Jaspers, Jung Han Heo, Quyet Chien Tran and Torbjörn Blomdahl achieve the maximum 6 match points. Nikos Polychronopoulos, after a short night of sleep due to a sudden hospital visit from his wife Vaso, shone in his match with Peter Ceulemans in the 3rd inning with a run of 18.
The most known players not making it to the knockouts are Bao, Sidhom, Haeng Jik Kim, Jun Tae Kim, Uymaz, Hofman, Ceulemans and Kiraz.
The draw for the first knockouts with 16 players includes the Belgian clash between Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron. Quyet Chien Tran and Myung Woo Cho, top players in the world rankings, also meet in the top 16.
The draw for Friday:
12.00 (Portuguese time)
Tasdemir-Bury
Horn-Polychronopoulos
Tran-Cho
Heo-Thai
14.30:
Zanetti-TTT Nguyen
Jaspers-Karakurt
Blomdahl-TL Tran
Merckx-Caudron
The overview of the groups on Thursday:
Group A:
Dick Jaspers' shining start determined the course of the other matches. The Dutchman's victory against Jordan's Awwad is certainly not as spectacular as the score suggests, but the 40-8 is an indication of good form. Jaspers also shows that immediately in the match against Berkay Karakurt with a 19-1 lead, 24-6 and a final score 40-12 in 20. The number one position is known, Uymaz (with a run of 14 against Awwad) does not give up easily. But Jaspers conducts the ex-PBA player to elimination with 40-30 in 25. Karakurt, in 15 innings against Awwad, moves along as second in the ranking.
Standings in Group A:
1 Dick Jaspers 6-1,846-9
2 Berkay Karakurt 4-1,373-14
3 Birol Uymaz 2-1,444-14
4 Naser Awwad 0-0.769-4
Group B:
Quyet Chien Tran's laborious win over Vera (40-21 in 35) contrasts with Frédéric Caudron's smooth victory over Costa (40-23 in 22). That start does not affect the clash between the two favorites for the group win. Caudron gets off to a slightly better start (18-12), then a delightful fight develops. The Vietnamese comes back from 24-37 with a run of 11, Caudron has a curious miss two points from the end and Tran immediately strikes with four points: 39-38. On that score, Caudron misses once more and Tran deals the final blow: 40-38 in 19. It forces Caudron to win over Vera, but that mission is not so simple. The Mexican keeps up until 36-36, on that score the Belgian goes to win with 4: 40-38 in 20.
Standings in Group B:
1 Quyet Chien Tran 6-1,558-11
2 Frédéric Caudron 4-2.000-7
3 Javier Vera 1-1.087-14
4 Rui Costa 1-1.012-6
Group C:
Two Koreans open the dance and close with the two positions on top in the end. Jung Han Heo starts with a win over Myung Woo Cho: 40-32 in 27 innings. At the other table, Glenn Hofman triumphs against Soares 40-20 in 22. Cho retaliates with a furious score against Soares (31-5 in 10, 40-6 in 11, run 12). Heo keeps Hofman in check (20-11 in 12). The Dutchman makes a final effort against Korean Myung Woo Cho, but loses the battle 40-25 in 25.
Standings in Group C:
1 Jung Han Heo 6-1,643-10
2 Myung Woo Cho 4-1,777-12
3 Glenn Hofman 2-1,436-8
4 Jose Miguel Soares 0-0.727-4
Group D:
The first knock comes from Torbjörn Blomdahl against Sergio Jimenez (40-20 in 25), Jérémy Bury gets surprised by Myeong Jong Cha and has to go in pursuit. The Frenchman excels in his second game against Jimenez with a nice run of 17 and is back in the match. At the end of the day, it will be a battle for the top two positions: Torbjörn Blomdahl against Jérémy Bury is decisive, Blomdahl wins (40-31 in 24) and takes the lead position, Bury, Cha and Jimenez finish on 2 match points, Bury is best in average with 1.391.
Standings in Group D:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 6-1,538-9
2 Jérémy Bury 2-1,391-17
3 Myeong Jong Cha 2-1,345-6
4 Sergio Jimenez 2-1,144-6
Group E:
Eddy Merckx's walk-over over young Dimitrios Seleventas (40-15 in 18) immediately put the Belgian in a starring role. Tension rises after the Vietnamese clash in that group. Phuong Vinh Bao, the world champion, is beaten by Thanh Luc Tran 40-33 in 20 innings. Merckx also wins against Tran and in his last, he draws against Bao (40-40 in 22), leaving the Belgian with five match points and 2,000. Thanh Luc Tran advances to the knockouts.
Standings in Group E:
1 Eddy Merckx 5-2,000-10
2 Thanh Luc Tran 4-1,949-9
3 Dimitrios Seleventas 2-1,308-6
4 Phuong Vinh Bao 1-1,438-6
Group F:
Martin Horn starts the day with victories over TTT Nguyen (40-35 in 26) and Tolgahan Kiraz (40-34 in 28) to secure a group win. In his third against `Jun Tae Kim, who lost his two games, Horn draws in 23 innings. TTT Nguyen's draw against Kiraz allows him to advance to the knockouts. Martin Horn is the least of the group winners in average.
Standings in Group F:
1 Martin Horn 4-1,384-9
2 TTT Nguyen 3-1,691-8
3 Tolgahan Kiraz 3-1,425-7
4 Jun Tae Kim 2-1,277-7
Group G:
This was a day of ups and downs for Nikos Polychronopoulos, who had a sleepless night because his wife Vaso was taken to hospital, but Nikos was able to keep playing afterwards. The Greek, who shone in last year's World Cup in Veghel with a run of 25, had another great moment in the match against Peter Ceulemans with 18. Tayfun Tasdemir was the winner with 6 match points and 2.264 (runs 13 and 12) ahead of Polychronopoulos with 4 points and 2.229. The victim of that scoring drive was Peter Ceulemans, Haeng Jik Kim suffered even 3 defeats.
Standings in Group G:
1 Tayfun Tasdemir 6-2,264-13
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-2,229-18
3 Peter Ceulemans 2-1,793-8
4 Haeng Jik Kim 0-1,754-7
Group H:
Marco Zanetti is playing a sublime group phase with wins over Peter De Backer (40-14 in 18), Hong Chiem Thai (40-19 in 16) and Sameh Sidhom (40-17 in 20). That maximum race puts him at the head of the group with 2,222 ahead of Thai with 1,622. The Vietnamese beat his two rivals, against Sidhom, Thai is winning 40-30 in 22 innings.
Standings in Group H:
1 Marco Zanetti 6-2,222-8
2 Hong Chiem Thai 4-1,622-9
3 Sameh Sidhom 2-1,380-6
4 Peter De Backer 0-0.935-5
Quyet Chien Tran was the better in a close final sprint against Caudron
Marco Zanetti, an excellent start in this World Cup
Nikos Polychronopoulos, wonderful run of 18
Eddy Merckx, facing his countryman Frédéric Caudron in the knock-outs