LAUSANNE - Which four players will come as the four winners from the roulette tables, tonight in the casino where the Lausanne Billard Masters are played? Even Dani Sánchez, who won all his matches in three of four rounds, is not yet sure to be in the semifinals. The Spaniard, who shone against Torbjörn Blomdahl with a gorgeous run of 21, is together with seven other players in the waiting room.
The final rounds should bring the climax in the group matches for four spots in the semifinals, knowing that the average does not count in case of equal match points, but the result that they played against each other.
Dick Jaspers will play against Marco Zanetti, Sung-Won Choi against Martin Horn in Group A. The winners of those contests advance to the semifinals.
Group B is much more complicated: Dani Sánchez leads with six match points ahead of Frédéric Caudron and Jérémy Bury with four points. Torbjörn Blomdahl gathered only two points and meets Caudron in the evening matches. And Daniel Sánchez faces Jérémy Bury.
It is in theory not even impossible that three players (Sánchez, Caudron and Bury) finish off with six points: in that case the average will count, because all three players have won against each other.
On the other hand, it could be that Sánchez ends with six points and three players (Caudron, Bury, Blomdahl) with four: then, the player with four match points and the best average is the number two in the group.
Four of the five players in Group B have averages over two after three matches: Sánchez 2.352, Cauidron 2.269, Bury 2.120 and Blomdahl 2.021.
Dani Sánchez was the most celebrated player in the penultimate round. The Catalan had a flying start in his match against Torbjörn Blomdahl with a run of 21 in the fourth inning. He took a 28-3 lead then. The Swede came back to 29-16, but was defeated 40-16 in 10 innings.
Jérémy Bury kept his chances in this group by an easy victory in a strong performance against Fernando Couto: 40-7 in 13.
The rankings with one round to play:
Group A:
1 Dick Jaspers 3-4-1.812-8
2 Martin Horn 3-4-1.787-10
3 Sung-Won Choi 3-4-1.437-9
4 Marco Zanetti 3-4-1.181-8
5 Rene Hendriksen 4-0-0.955-6
Matches at 17.00:
Jaspers-Zanetti
Horn-Choi.
Group B:
1 Dani Sánchez 3-6-2.352-21
2 Frédéric Caudron 3-4-2.269-8
3 Jérémy Bury 3-4-2.120-9
4 Torbjörn Blomdahl 3-2-2.021-15
5 Fernando Couto 4-0-0.758-6
Matches at 21.15:
Sánchez-Bury
Blomdahl Caudron.