BOGÓTA - The two top players for the Netherlands and Belgium, Dick Jaspers and Eddy Merckx, remain in contention for a gold rush at the World Cup in Bogóta. The illustrious pair also conquers the rankings after this World Cup on South American soil, as all rivals for the top positions have now gone home. Dick Jaspers becomes No 1 after Bogóta, Eddy Merckx the No 2 with a wide lead over the next-door competitors. This Saturday also featured two Turks, who made life miserable for two Korean Kim's. For the other players in the top ten of the world rankings, Friday and Saturday was a real torture. Myung Woo Cho (now 2nd), Quyet Chien Tran (4th), Jun Tae Kim (5th), Marco Zanetti (6th), Martin Horn (7th), Jung Han Heo (8th) and Sameh Sidhom (9th) were outplayed in Bogóta and only see the two leaders Jaspers and Merckx further ran out.
Jaspers and Merckx came through the round with the best 16 unscathed on Saturday on the early Colombian evening and will play late tonight (Western European time) for a place in the semi-finals. The two other Belgians went out of the tournament: Peter Ceulemans by Frenchman Bury and Roland Forthomme by Vietnamese Thanh Luc Tran. Dick Jaspers faced a stubbornly fighting Quyet Chien Tran. The Vietnamese posed another threat to the high ranking and was able to keep up with Jaspers in the match for a long time. Things were fairly even until 40-38, then Jaspers attacked with 6 and finished the match at 50-46 in 32/31 after a run of 12 on 7 innings from the end.
Eddy Merckx faced the best winner of the round with 32, but Egyptian Sameh Sidhom was not half as good in the match with the Belgian. Merckx already took a 31-11 lead in 18 innings and after 40-19 grabbed the win at 50-34 in 28 innings. As a result, the Belgian, always firmly in the top ten but rarely competing for the top spot in the rankings, is now also on course for glory.
Jun Tae Kim, also highly ranked, was defeated in the last 16 on Saturday by Tolgahan Kiraz, the erratic but oh-so-feared Turk in Tayfun Tasdemir's shadow. Jun Tae Kim, who had a better start than Kiraz (14-7) was first overpowered by the Turk by 8 and 6 and finally on a score of 38-38 by a flawless final run of 12, which gave Tolgahan Kiraz the 50-38 win in 27 innings.
Tayfun Tasdemir pulled off another unlikely stunt against Haeng Jik Kim in the later stages. The Turk started the match with six zeros and just one point in 10 innings. Then, Haeng Jik Kim faded with a weak phase and Tasdemir was able to finish masterfully from 39-38 including with 10, twice 3 and 4: 50-42 in 36.
The third Turk still in contention, Berkay Karakurt, settled with Vietnamese Duc Minh Tran, thanks in part to two perfectly played runs of 10: 50-26 in 20/19. That made Karakurt the best winner in this round together with Bury, 2,500 on average.
Of the first four games in the first session with 16, Jérémy Bury was the best winner in 20 innings. Doing so, he stayed well ahead of Peter Ceulemans: 50-28 in 20 innings. The Belgian had lost his form of the previous day and couldn’t score enough to threaten Bury. Roland Forthomme had such a similar slump in his match against Thanh Luc Tran, a Vietnamese on the rise, who put his opponent on a wide margin with 6 runs of 4 and won 50-31 in 37. Forthomme's ending with four zeros was illustrative of his match.
Finally, at the end of the first knockout round with 16, Hong Chiem Thai again showed his enormous talent in the match against Torbjörn Blomdahl. The Swede felt helpless, still struggling at times, but saw Thai attack, among others, with runs of 9 and 10 and after a sloppy ending finish 50-29 in 26.
Dick Jaspers, the strong nr 1 after his rivals in the ranking are out, except Eddy Merckx
Eddy Merckx climbed to number 2 on the ranking
Tayfun Tasdemir and Tolgahan Kiraz made life miserable for two Korean Kim's this Saturday night
Berkay Karakurt, the third Turk in the last 8
Hong Chiem Thai, the young, strong Vietnamese who outplayed Torbjörn Blomdahl
Jérémy Bury, to the last 8, facing Jaspers in next round
The round featuring the best eight on Saturday evening and night for four places in the semi-finals on Sunday:
Western European time 10pm, 4pm in Colombia:
Merckx-Thanh Luc Tran
Jaspers-Bury
West European time 00.30, 18.30 in Colombia:
Hong Chiem Thai-Tolgahan Kiraz
Berkay Karakurt-Tayfun Tasdemir.