Jun Tae Kim had magic record in his fingers

SEOUL - How bitter and wry it was and how unfortunate for the sport that Korean Jun Tae Kim was stopped in his attempt to play a new world record high run on a historic day of billiards in Seoul, Korea. The record of 28, held by three Belgians (Ceulemans, Caudron, Forthomme) and one Japanese (Komori) was once again the magic number in a match at the World Cup in Seoul, where Jun Tae Kim, a player from the top of the world rankings, was on his way to a highlight at this World Cup in a brilliant performance. Jun Tae Kim, in his match against Dutchman Glenn Hofman, was on a 12 caroms score after seven innings. The Korean started a fantastic run and soon everyone who witnessed realized, that an improvement of the world record was impossible. The expectation came true: Jun Tae Kim whirled to the 28, equaled the record, but unfortunately had to stop the top run as he reached the end of his match: 40-17 in 8 innings.

The billiard world, so spoilt by great matches and runs in the last World Cups, watched breathlessly in the Korean afternoon and for the lucky viewers in the Western European night. The magical improvement, to 29, good for eternal glory and a 29,000 euro prime, was sadly unattainable for this Korean star player. He received a standing ovation for it in his country and also from Roland Forthomme, one of the other record holders, who happened to be playing on the billiard next to Kim. Jun Tae won his match, the best so far in this World Cup, and qualified nicely for the round with the best 16. But how unfortunate: because in the four times that the historic run of 28 had been made so far by world players, never one of those four players had to stop his run of 28 regulationally (the final run in a match).

So the world record best run is now held by five players: Junichi Komori from Japan (1993), Raymond Ceulemans from Belgium (1998), Frédéric Caudron (2013) and Roland Forthomme (2012), also both from Belgium. 

That was not all on this day with the 32 finalists in Seoul. Two Koreans made Glenn Hofman (Netherlands) victim of elimination with 2.200 on average, Jun Tae Kim with his run of 28, Haeng Jik Kim with two final runs of 10 and 8. The group was one of the strongest on this matchday: Jun Tae Kim with 2.142, Haeng Jik Kim with 1.881, Glenn Hofman with 2.200 and Ruben Legazpi with 1.944. Van Ly Dao and Eddy Merckx had averages of 2,666 and 2,560 after two rounds, the Vietnamese had already qualified by then, Eddy Merckx still had to win his match with Torbjörn Blomdahl. That happened after a fast start by the Belgian (40-22 in 19), the Swede was eliminated.

More highlights followed in quick succession. Myung Woo Cho played out his match against Ahmet Alp 40-12 in 11 innings. Van Ly Dao beat Eddy Merckx 40-24 in 13, Merckx took immediate revenge against Lee 40-27 in 12 and Marco Zanetti also won a match in 12 innings against Nguyen (40-36, averages 3.333 and 3.000).

The World Cup in Seoul was down to the rounds with the best 32 players on Friday. Three players, Tayfun Tadsdemir, Myung Woo Cho and Quyet Chien Tran achieved the maximum 6 match points in the groups with 4, Dick Jaspers and Martin Horn were group winners with 5 points. The highest averages came from Eddy Merckx (2.418), Van Ly Dao (2.387), Jun Tae Kim (2.142) and Glenn Hofman, eliminated with 2.220.

In the last 16 are 4 Koreans, 3 Belgians, 3 Vietnamese, 2 Turks, 1 Dutchman, 1 German, 1 Colombian and 1 Egyptian.

The round of knockouts for Saturday with 16 players:

11.30 in Korea (4.30 West Europe)

Myung Woo Cho-Jung Han Heo

Phuong Vinh Bao-Peter Ceulemans

Dick Jaspers-Haeng Jik Kim

Martin Horn-Sameh Sidhom

14.00 Korea (6.00 Western Europe)

Tayfun Tasdemir-Roland Forthomme

Eddy Merckx-Daniel Morales

Jun Tae Kim-Van Ly Dao

Quyet Chien Tran-Tolgahan Kiraz.

The overview of the 8 groups of 4 from whom the best 2 advance to the knockouts with 16:

Group A:

Dick Jaspers starts with a draw against Wan Young Choi, the strong Korean coming out of the preliminary rounds. The Dutch world number one then grabs wins against Jérémy Bury (40-24 in 21) and in his last against Daniel Morales 40-26 in 18. The wildcard Colombian advances to the next round with 4 match points and 1.927 (run 14).

Standings in Group A:

1 Dick Jaspers 5-1.875-9

2 Daniel Morales 4-1,927-14

3 Wan Young Choi 3-1.615-10

4 Jérémy Bury 0-1.306-11

Group B:

Quyet Chien Tran and Roland Forthomme open the party with a win for the Vietnamese: 40-27 in 21. Two Koreans, Seo and Yeong, see the Vietnamese and the Belgian finish on top, Tran with the best average, Forthomme with two excellent wins over the Koreans in 28 and 20 innings.

Standings in Group B:

1 Quyet Chien Tran 6-1,935-9

2 Roland Forthomme 4-1.550-10

3 Ye Sung Jeong 2-1.419-8

4 Chang Hoon Seo 0-0.929-7

Group C:

Two Turks and two Koreans for the win, the spoils are shared fairly. Myung Woo Cho becomes a generous winner with 6 match points and 2,068 ahead of Tolgahan Kiraz with 4 points and 1,520. Myung Woo Cho especially shines against Alp in 11 innings with 3.636 on average. Kiraz wins the Turkish clash against Alp 40-23 in 21.

Standings in Group C:

1 Myung Woo Cho 6-2,068-10

2 Tolgahan Kiraz 4-1,520-10

3 Ahmet Alp 2-1,229-6

4 Joong Kun Park 0-0.906-7

Group D:

The glorious run of 28 colors this match day and puts Jun Tae Kim in the spotlights. The Korean floors Glenn Hofman, who beats Ruben Legazpi 40-33 in 18 in his first match. The hapless Dutchman shows his outstanding form, but later runs into great final runs from Haeng Jik Kim as well, eliminating him with a superb average. Jun Tae Kim, hero of the day, moves into the lead with 4 points and 2,142, despite losing in his last game against Ruben Legazpi 40-26 in 16. That alone indicates the brilliant level in this group of four with sky-high averages and runs of 28, 12, 12 and 10.

Standings in Group D:

1 Jun Tae Kim 4-2,142-28

2 Haeng Jik Kim 4-1,881-12

3 Glenn Hofman 2-2,200-12

4 Ruben Legazpi 2-1,944-7

Group E:

Eddy Merckx, so at home in Korean tournaments, is floored by Vin Le Dao in his first match. The Vietnamese plays out in 13 innings (40-24) and is out of reach after 2 rounds. Eddy Merckx and Torbjörn Blomdahl battle for second qualification. The Belgian starts furiously, leading 23-8 in 7 at the break and 40-22 in 19. Dao loses his last to Lee (40-37 in 19), so Merckx still grabs the lead: Merckx with 2.418, Dao with 2.3887. Blomdahl is out of the game.

Standings in Group E:

1 Eddy Merckx 4-2,418-10

2 Van Ly Dao 4-2,387-12

3 Beom Leol Lee 2-1,740-8

4 Torbjörn Blomdahl 2-1,425-6

Group F:

Peter Ceulemans and Marco Zanetti have to decide in the last match of the day who will go to the knockouts with Martin Horn. The Belgian/Italian duel is tied until the very last stage. Zanetti leads 38-34 as Ceulemans goes to the last point with 5, but misses by a kiss. Zanetti remains on 38, Ceulemans can finish it off. Martin Horn is unbeaten with 5 points. The German only drew against Ceulemans in the first game: 40-40 in 21.

Standings in Group F:

1 Martin Horn 5-1,875-12

2 Peter Ceulemans 5-1,764-8

3 Marco Zanetti 2-1,814-12

4 Hoan Tat Nguyen 0-1,666-9

Group G:

The top positions are for Tayfun Tasdemir and Jung Han Heo, who in their mutual match see the win go to Tasdemir 40-20 in 25. The highest run is for Hyun Il Song with 10, but he is eliminated, the same as Omer Karakurt, who cannot reach a win.

Standings in Group G:

1 Tayfun Tasdemir 6-1,621-8

2 Jung Han Heo 4-1,428-9

3 Hyun Il Song 2-1,164-10

4 Omer Karakurt 0-1,346-8

Group H:

Vietnamese Bao passes Sameh Sidhom for the lead in his last match, both gaining 4 match points and making little difference to each other in average. Sidhom wins in his first match against Bao 40-30 in 22, but is beaten by Ja In Kang in the last by 40-37. That no longer matters for the Egyptian's qualification.

Standings in Group G:

1 Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1,774-8

2 Sameh Sidhom 4-1,720-9

3 Sung Il Jeong 2-1,516-8

4 Ja In Kang 2-1,352-7

Roland Forthomme, one of the other 4 record holders, shows his respect for Jun Tae Kim's run 

Myung Woo Cho, one of three group winners with the maximum 6 match points

Glenn Hofman, victim of two high scoring Koreans, eliminated for the World Cup with 2.220 on average

Eddy Merckx, after victory over Blomdahl to the knock-outs with excellent average

Roland Forthomme, the first Belgian to move up to the best 16

Dick Jaspers among best 16 with 5 match points

Van Ly Dao, one of the Vietnamese stars on this playing day in Seoul 

Phuong Vinh Bao, wonderful winner in his group

Daniel Morales, the Colombian, together with Dick Jaspers to next round

Peter Ceulemans bested Marco Zanetti in his last match and moves up with two other Belgians.