NEW YORK - The top favorites at the Carom Café in New York have started the second phase of the tournament with maximum scores. In the four eight-player groups, 11 players lead with six match points out of three matches. Sameh Sidhom had the best start with a victory over American Young Ha Choi, 35-12 in 12 innings with a run of 16. Tayfun Tasdemir beat Jose Delatorre in his opening match 35-16 in 13.
The Egyptian and the Turk lead their group, in the other two groups of 8 Pedro Piedrabuena and Hugo Patino are in the lead. In the second stage of the tournament, 16 players from the four groups of eight qualify for the next round. The match length in the Round Robin with 32 has been increased to 35.
Group A saw Sameh Sidhom go to three wins in 12, 24 and 21 innings. In his last two games, Sidhom defeated Nikolaus Kogelbauer 35-13 and Michael Kang 35-18. Luis Aveiga is the number two in this group followed by Muammer Rahmet. Kogelbauer and Kang lost their three matches.
The top three after three sessions:
- Sameh Sidhom 6-1,842-16
- Luis Aveiga 6-1.312-11
- Muammer Rahmet 6-1,153-7
Sameh Sidhom
Tayfun Tasdemir leads Group B after wins over Jose Delatorre, John Guldali and Quoc Vo in 13, 21 and 21 innings. The Turk is followed in the standings by Huberney Cataño, one of the Colombian favorites. Third is Rick Carranco.
The lead after three rounds:
Tayfun Tasdemir 6-1,909-10
Huberney Cataño 6-1,418-7
Rick Carranco 6-1,265-6
Tayfun Tasdemir
Hugo Patino, Roland Forthomme and Vicky Pineda had the best start in Group C with a slightly better average for Hugo Patino compared to Forthomme. The American won his games against Gonzales, Amado and Meawad in 30, 25 and 27 innings. Forthomme beat Eduardo Amado 35-14 in 22, George Karam 35-9 in 26 and Raymon Groot 35-26 in 37. Dutch New Yorker Groot won one of his three matches, but still has a chance for qualifying with 2 match points and 0.871.
The standings after 3 rounds:
- Hugo Patino 6-1,280-7
- Roland Forthomme 6-1,235-11
- Vicky Pineda 6-0.897-6
Roland Forthomme
In Group D, the top three is Pedro Piedrabuena, Carlos Mario Villegas and Alexander Salazar. The lead goes to Piedrabuena after victories over Galindo, Vitzthum and Gulbay in 23, 25 and 30 innings. Of the top three, only Alexander Salazar lost one match, against Galindo 35-31 in 35 innings.
The lead after three rounds:
Pedro Piedrabuena 6-1,346-7
Carlos Mario Villegas 6-1,220-8
Alexander Salazar 4-1,020-5
Carlos Mario Villegas