SEOUL - Greek billiard player Nikos Polychronopoulos, in his 45th year of age, won his first major, international tournament this Sunday. He was one of the world's top players in the World 3 cushion Survival in the Korean capital Seoul and climbed on the highest podium afterwards, showing his happiness. In the final four, Nikos beat world champion Tayfun Tasdemir, Vietnamese revelation Van Ly Dao and Korean Jun Tae Kim. The closing minutes were still wildly exciting, but Polychronopoulos could finally cheer with relief after the Vietnamese Dao missed in an ultimate chase. The Greek finished with 76 points, Tasdemir with 72, Dao with 68 and Kim with 24. For his victory, Nikos was given a new nickname on the podium of honor by the Korean reporter: The Phoenix, from Egyptian mythology the symbol of rebirth. It indicated the path Polychronopoulos had to take to reach the final in this World 3 cushion Survival.
On the first day of play, Nikos finished last in the group with Chi Yeon Cho, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Myeong Jong Cha, leaving him down to a new chance. There, the Greek finished second behind Quyet Chien Tran after a fight in which he had finished equal with Berkay Karakurt. On Saturday, 'Poly' went to the semi-finals together with Dick Jaspers. Twice on the final day, Nikos had to deal with a Vietnamese coming-man: Van Ly Dao. That still relatively unknown Dao won the first semi-final before Polychronopoulos 81-65, but ahead of Quyet Chien Tran and Dick Jaspers, the two world class players who were eliminated with 49 and 45 points. The other semi-final ended in a shared highest score for Tayfun Tasdemir and Jun-Tae Kim with 74 points. In that group, Chi Yeon Cho with 50 and Marco Zanetti with 42 points were eliminated.
So the final was between Nikos Polychronopoulos, Tayfun Tasdemir, Van Ly Dao and Jun Tae Kim. The Korean soon fell behind in the score, after which the three remaining contenders showed a magnificent battle.
Nikos led comfortably with about 10 minutes on the clock after a rn of seven with 92 ahead of Dao with 68 and Tasdemir with 64. The Turkish world champion started his final sprint with a series of 4, bringing him back to 4 points (80-84). When Tayfun missed first at 76-80 and Polychronopoulos also failed to score, Dao had one last chance. The Vietnamese made 3 points, needed 2 more caroms to be equal in points with Polychronopoulos, but played his 4th point rakishly behind. That was the signal for Polychronopoulos to jump off his chair in joy.
Nikos has to go back to the 1999 European Junior xhampionships in Murcia for his biggest individual, international win. This year, in 2023, he did win the European Team championships for Greece with Kostas Kokkoris. Nikos is married to Vaso and father of a daughter, Marianna (12).
His comment after winning the final: ’’I feel like a gladiator in this event, I’m very happy, but I also stayed cool. Not for a moment did I think about the money I could earn, only the prestige and the victory. Vietnamese Dao was a very strong opponent in my last two matches, but I also think to the barrage against Berkay Karakurt to survive. He misses in the first shoot-out, I miss too. Then I make 4 and Berkay makes 3. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made it to this final. I am happy, indeed, with this second big win this year. I don't want to say it can be a new, fresh start and that it will give a lot of confidence. We all know that the level is very high and winning a big tournament is not easy. The same goes for the Survival system: sometimes it can feel pleasant, sometimes it's a nightmare.''
The Greek earned $50,000 with this victory in Seoul.
The final score in the final:
- Nikos Polychronopoulos 76 ($50,000)
- Tayfun Tasdemir 68 ($25,000)
- Van Ly Dao 68 ($12,000)
- Jun Tae Kim 24 ($12,000)
- Chi Yeon Cho, Quyet Chien Tran, Dick Jaspers, Marco Zanetti ($8,000).
The final players: Tayfun Tasdemir, Van Ly Dao, Jun Tae Kim and Nikos Polychronopoulos
Nikos celebrates his final win in Seoul