WONJU - All three Colombians, playing for the first time in the World 3-cushion Grand Prix in Wonju, still have chances of reaching the final stage. Jose Juan Garcia, Huberney Cataño and Pedro Gonzalez, one match away from the final in the first group stage, are all on the verge of qualifying or going home. The best performance on Friday came from Garcia, who beat the hitherto unbeaten Jung Han Heo 2-1 and shone in the final set 22-7 in 6. The Grand Prix in Wonju goes to the end tomorrow in the six groups of eight players with five qualified players from each group.
Most of the world's top players like Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez, Tayfun Tasdemir, Jung Han Heo, Haeng Jik Kim, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Quyet Chien Tran, Marco Zanetti and Eddy Merckx are already sure of their places in the next round. And the other American, Pedro Piedrabuena, is also among the players for the final stage. For Garcia, Gonzalez and Cataño, it depends on the final matches in the groups. JJ Garcia still plays Wan Young Choi on Saturday, Huberney Cataño meets Japanese Miyashita and Pedro Gonzalez, the Pan American champion, plays Su Yeong Park in his last match.
The three Colombians are enjoying the Grand Prix, to which they have been invited for the first time. Pedro Gonzalez: ''The format is wonderful, it is exciting until the last matches.''
Pedro Gonzalez is number five in the group led by Marco Zanetti, Su Yeong Park and Eddy Merckx, but has to battle it out on the final day with Jun Hyuk Son, Therese Klompenhouwer and Nikolaus Kogelbauer. Gonzalez lost to Eddy Merckx 2-0 (2,071/1,384) in his match on Friday, giving him 6 match points out of six games and 1,304 on average himself.
Jose Juan Garcia beat Jung Han Heo, but had to bow to world champion Tayfun Tasdemir 2-1 (2,800/1,555) in his previous match. The former junior world champion is sixth in his group with seven match points and 1,533 (run 14). Anyhow, he needs to pass either Turk Hashas, or Dutchman Van Etten or Turk Coklu to reach the fifth position.
Huberney Cataño unexpectedly played a draw in his last match against Turkey's Mujde Karakasli, scoring her first match point. Cataño could not reach his level with a poor 0.833 and needs to win in his last game, otherwise he will be passed by Miyashita. Cataño has 7 match points and 1.247 on average.
Friday's most remarkable results on the penultimate qualifying day:
Group A:
Dick Jaspers-Myung Woo Cho 2-1 (1.809/1.263)
Bang Joo Hwang-Kwang Hyun Kim 2-0 (2.230/0.928)
Pedro Piedrabuena-Ga Yeon Jang 2-0 (2,461/0.923)
TTT Nguyen-Jun Tae Kim 2-0 (2,000/1,384)
Group B:
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Chang Hoon Seo 2-0 (2,750/1,636)
Dani Sánchez-Sung Won Choi 2-1 (1.55/1.636)
Group C:
JJ Garcia-Jung Han Heo 2-1 (1.952/1.700)
Tayfun Tasdemir-Murat Naci Coklu 2-1 (1.583/2.260)
Sam van Etten-Noriko Fukao 2-0 (1,529/0,529)
Group D:
HaengJik Kim-Myeong Jong Cha 2-0 (3,400/1,214)
Choong Bok Lee-Torbjörn Blomdahl 2-1 (1,478/1,739)
Group E:
Dion Nelin-Quyet Chien Tran 1-1 (2,050/1,900)
Sameh Sidhom-Ruben Legazpi 2-1 (2,095/1,200)
Group F:
Eddy Merckx-Pedro Gonzalez 2-0 (2,071/1,384)
Marco Zanetti-Duc Anh Chien Nguyen 2-1 (1,631/1,100)
Jun Hyuk Son-Therese Klompenhouwer 2-0 (1.666/0.611)
The ranking with one more day to go:
Group A:
1 Dick Jaspers 6-18-2,097-13
2 Pedro Piedrabuena 6-13-15
3 Bong Joo Hwang 6-10-1,525-7
4 Jun Tae Kim 6-1,714-11
5 TTT Nguyen 6-8-1,605-11
6 Myung Woo Choi 5-1,601-14
7 Kwang Hyun Kim 6-4-0.954-6
8 Ga Yeon Jang 6-1-0.864
Group B:
1 Dani Sánchez 5-10-2.819-12
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 5-10-1,709-9
3 Sung Won Choi 5-9-1,743-12
4 Chang Hoon Seo 5-7-1,237-6
5 Jose Miguel Soarez 6-7-1,016-7
6 Jung Hee Lee 5-6-1.27-8
7 Nhi Hoangyen Nguyen 5-3-0.620-4
Group C:
1 Jung Han Heo 6-15-2.040-11
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 6-15-1,960-14
3 Sam van Etten 6-9-1,130-10
4 Murat Naci Coklu 6-9-1,344-9
5 Wan Young Choi 6-9-1,350-7
6 Burak Hashas 6-7-1,514-11
7 Jose Juan Garcia 6-7-1,533-14
8 Noriko Fukao 6-0-0,540-4
Group D:
1 HaengJik Kim 6-15-1,813-14
2 Torbjörn Blomdahl 6-12-1,871-12
3 Myeong Jong Cha 6-12-1,191-8
4 Takao Miyashita 6-9-1,308-11
5 Choong Bok Lee 6-9-1,466-11
6 Huberney Cataño 6-7-1,247-7
7 Dong Ryong Kim 6-6-1,192-8
8 Guzin Mujde Karakasli 6-1-0,700-7
Group E:
1 Quyet Chien Tran 6-1-2.18-19
2 Sameh Sidhom 6-15-1,837-15
3 Hyung Kon Kim 6-13-1,272-9
4 Dion Nelin 6-10-1,876-10
5 Ruben Legazpi 6-6-1,886-9
6 Alessio D'Agata 6-4-1,330-7
7 Mahmoud Ayman 6-4-1,040-7
8 Jieun Han 6-1-0,901-5
Group F:
1 Marco Zanetti 6-18-1,899-14
2 Su Yeong Park 6-12-1,433-8
3 Eddy Merckx 6-12-1,521-9
4 Duc Anh Chien Nguyen 6-9-1,598-12
5 Pedro Gonzalez 6-6-1,304-7
6 Jun Hyuk Son 6-6-1,118-12
7 Therese Klompenhouwer 6-6-1,060-7
8 Nikolaus Kogelbauer 6-3-0.886-6