VEGHEL - The final podium at the World Cup in Veghel will look completely different at the end of this week. The top four players of two years ago in the city in Brabant are already eliminated after one day in the main draw. The winner in that year, Haeng Jik Kim, has left the arena after a rarely seen match against Dutchman Jeffrey Jorissen. Lütfi Cenet was eliminated, Antonio Montes did not even survive the preliminaries and Vietnamese Duc Anh Chien Nguyen did not make the trip to Holland because of the COVID threat in his country. The road is paved for other world stage star players and outsiders like Ji Hun Ahn, the Korean revelation in the first days and Jeffrey Jorissen, a fast-rising former Dutch cafe owner.
Ji Hun Ahn (40) was the most striking player on this first day with two great games against Torbjörn Blomdahl and Raimond Burgman, won by the Korean in 15 and in 11 innings, 40-29 against the world champion, even 40-10 against the renowned Dutch top player.
Who is that Ji Hun Ahn really, as it was heard in the billiard hall, with his black curls and his special glasses? He is forty, lives in a small town in the middle of South Korea, has been Korean champion three times since 2003, the last time in 2020. But why does he rarely appear in the World Cups? His coach said about him: ''Ji Hun has a kind of illness, which cannot be cured, that's why he often cannot control his head and hands. Then, he's shaking with his head uncontrollably, also while playing. And of course it hinders him, but on some days, like here at this World Cup, he can play fantastic billiards.''
The nice and cheeky Hague player Jeffrey Jorissen and for the Dutch audience also Sam van Etten also showed that today. In front of the crowd with many of his fans, Jeffrey Jorissen played a match against Haeng Jik Kim that is going around the world. The Korean defending champion, winner of this World Cup in Veghel 2019, was outclassed by a start that put an improbable score on the board. Jorissen launched the match with 3-12-12 for 27 caroms in three innings. Then, it became even worse for Kim, who missed six more times after the breakshot and was facing a 33-0 deficit in eight innings. ''I was not thinking about records,'' Jorissen said later. ''But actually I should have finished a bit earlier.'' But anyway, the score was impressive: 40-8 in 13.
Sam van Etten, a 24-year-old Dutch specialist in the classical disciplines, also showed himself to a broad billiard crowd. The move to three cushion of this 2 meters long guy shows a fast progression. The organisation of the World Cup had rewarded him with a wildcard. And the young promising player was delighted with his first real meeting with the world top. ''I want to develop myself further in the coming years. And of course I still have to make many steps. What strikes me most here at the World Cup is that the real, famous players almost never miss on easily balls''. Yet, he clearly showed his progression here: with a run of 11 against former world champion Sung-Won Choi, a nice victory over the Spaniard Jose Maria Mas and the wonderful ending against Eddy Merckx, double world champion, whom he approached to one carom: 40-39.
Dick Jaspers (Group A), Marco Zanetti (Group B) and Eddy Merckx (Group C) were the first group winners with the maximum score today. Jaspers with 1,904 on average, Zanetti with 1,967 and Merckx with 1,643. Jung Han Heo and Tayfun Tasdemir tied in their mutual match, ending both with five match points, the Korean 2,307, Tasdemir 1,791. Nikos Polychronopoulos and Roland Forthomme battled for the runner-up position behind Zanetti: the Greek won with a remarkable score: 40-12 in 15.
Jeffrey Jorissen (Group G) was the only player in the last evening session to reach the maximum six match points with his victory over Jun Tae Kim. One Korean, Jun Tae Kim, remained ahead of the other, Haeng Jik Kim, on average, and goes with Jorissen to the best sixteen. Martin Horn and Michael Nilsson played an enthralling match in Group F, which decided whether to continue or not. The German tied it with 3 and thus became group winner. Dani Sánchez beat Jean van Erp 40-29 and was the second, Michael Nilsson, with an excellent average (2,111, the best of the group) was unfortunately eliminated by Horn's final sprint.
The tension was still rising in Group H where Semih Sayginer, Sameh Sidhom and Can Capak were fighting for two places. Robinson Morales made it difficult for Sayginer with a smooth start, but Sayginer grew in the match, came back with a run of 12 and won the match 40-34 in 16. And because Sameh Sidhom won against Can Capak 40-26, the Egyptian goes along with Sayginer to the knock-outs.
Ji Hun made his only mistake of the day by losing against Jérémy Bury 40-38. He remained the group winner ahead of Torbjörn Blomdahl. The Swede won his last
The tension was still rising in Group H where Semih Sayginer, Sameh Sidhom and Can Capak were in the battle with three. Robinson Morales made it difficult for Sayginer with a smooth start, but Sayginer grew in the match, came back with a run of 12 and won the match 40-34 in 16. And because Sameh Sidhom won against Can Capak 40-26, the Egyptian goes along with Sayginer to the knock-outs.
Ji Hun made his only mistake of the day by losing against Jérémy Bury 40-38. He still was the group winner ahead of Torbjörn Blomdahl. The Swede won his last match against Raimond Burgman (40-36 in 26).
The final rankings (two first seeds of each groups go to the best sixteen in the knock-outs):
Group A:
1 Dick Jaspers 6-1.904-11
2 Ja In Kang 2-1.531-8
3 Dion Nelin 2-1.486-9
4 Pedro Gonzalez 2-1.026-13
Group B:
1 Marco Zanetti 6-1,967-10
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-1.701-15
3 Roland Forthomme 2-1.279-7
4 Therese Klompenhouwer 0-0.851-7
Group C:
1 Eddy Merckx 6-1.643-9
2 Sung Won Choi 4-1.484-8
3 Sam van Etten 2-1.440-11
4 Jose Maria Mas 0-1.121-5
Group D:
1 Jung Han Heo 5-2,307-10
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 5-1,791-8
3 Omer Karakurt 2-1,534-9
4 Lütfi Cenet 0-1.064-6
Group E:
1 Ji Hun Ahn 4-2.458-12
2 Torbjörn Blomdahl 4-1.676-9
3 Jérémy Bury 2-1.535-8
4 Raimond Burgman 2-1.387-8
Group F:
1 Martin Horn 5-1,500-8
2 Dani Sánchez 5-1,761-9
3 Michael Nilsson 3-2.111-10
4 Jean van Erp 0-1.211-10
Group G:
1 Jeffrey Jorissen 6-2,069-12
2 Jun Tae Kim 3-1,450-12
3 Haeng Jik Kim 3-1,313-7
4 Murat Naci Coklu 0-1.461-8
Group H:
1 Semih Sayginer 5-1,875-12
2 Sameh Sidhom 5-1.519-7
3 Can Capak 2-1.508-11
4 Robinson Morales 0-1.607-15
The schedule for the first knock-out rounds on Friday;
12.00:
Jeffrey Jorissen-Ja In Kang
Ji Hun Ahn-Tayfun Tasdemir
Jung Han Heo-Nikos Polychronopoulos
Eddy Merckx-Torbjörn Blomdahl
14.00:
Dick Jaspers-Sung Won Choi
Semih Sayginer-Dani Sánchez
Martin Horn-Sameh Sidhom
Marco Zanetti-Jun Tae Kim.