SEOUL - The knock-out stage of the LGU + Cup is missing three of the world's most famous European players. Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dick Jaspers and Marco Zanetti are not among the the top eight field in the tournament, in which 61.000 dollars is waiting on Saturday for the winner. Four Europeans, three Koreans and one Vietnamese are in the final stage to make a bid for the main prizes. The Belgians Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx continue their winning race of this summer. Dani Sánchez, Murat Naci Coklu, Dong-Koong Kang, HaengJik Kim, Hyun Min Seo and Quyet Chien Tran are the other finalists in the main draw. The quarter finals start one by one at 10.50 Korean time.
The year of the spectacular impulses on the calenar is far from a top season for Blomdahl, Jaspers and Zanetti. The Dutchman won the World Cup in Blankenberge early in the year, but was rapidly eliminated in the 3CC World Masters in Seoul and now again in the LGU Cup. Torbjörn Blomdahl won his last World Cup in La Baule last year and then dropped to the tenth position on the UMB ranking. That has to do with, among others, the physical problems and the operations that have disrupted Torbjörns rhythm. Marco Zanetti, last year's winner in Seoul's LGU Cup, thanks his top five position mainly to the European title to his name for two years.
Three strong Europeans miss out the show down: Jaspers with only one victory in three group matches, Blomdahl and Zanetti with one victory and one draw. On the third day of play, things went bad for the multiple world champions. Dick Jaspers was knocked down by Frédéric Caudron: 40-23 in 13 after a rocket start of the Belgian with 13 and 5 and a quick lead, 21-6. Jaspers wasn't able to overcome the starting phase, although he saw unexpectedly chances at the other table. Jae-Guen Kim had a promising start for Jaspers, when he took the road to victory against Seo, but after 24-9, Kim lost his lead (31-31). Seo grabbed his chance in the equalizer and made it to 40-40, passing Jaspers for the number two position.
The elimination of Blomdahl and Zanetti was the result of their own draws in the group stage. The Swede gave it his very best to survive against Coklu, balanced with his opponent in the entire match (23-23, 35-35), was the first at the finish line, but saw Coklu draw with three. Dong-Koong Kan defeated the other Korean, Hyun Kon Kim at the other table and finished second with 4 match points, Coklu was the leader with five points.
Marco Zanetti, after his own draw against the pretty unknown Oh, had to match with Eddy Merckx for the qualification. Merckx attacked, not unlucky, at 27-27 with a run of twelve, feeling the support of an angel on his shoulder: a lucky shot for the 3rd and the 8th carom. That was Zanetti's downfall: Merckx closed the match at 39-30 with a bankshot over six rails. Vietnamese Tran had the slightly better final sprint to beat the revelation Oh 40-38 in 28.
The Koreans HaengJik Kim and Jae-Ho Cho fought a fierce battle for the last of eight places in the knock-outs. Dani Sánchez was already out of reach and defeated Myung Woo Cho in his last match 40-27 in 19. HaengJik Kim won the clash with Jae-Ho Cho in the thrilling last innings 40-39. Kim had enough to draw, Cho missed his last of three points in the equalizer.
Frédéric Caudron and Dani Sánchez were the only players in the 16-field with the maximum match points. Caudron had the best average with 2.307. Caudron and Jae-Guen Kim made the highest run: 13.
Frédéric Caudron, best on average, best run in the pre-rounds
The final rankings in the groups:
Group A:
1 Murat Naci Coklu 5-1.578-10
2 Dong-Koong Kang 4-1.541-12
3 Torbjörn Blomdahl 3-1.637-11
4 Hyung-Kon Kim 0-1.136-7
Group B:
1 Dani Sánchez 6-1.739-9
2 HaengJik Kim 4-1.966-9
3 Jae-Ho Cho 2-1.822-9
4 Myung-Woo Cho 0-1.860-11
Group C:
1 Eddy Merckx 4-2.020-12
2 Quyet Chien Tran 4-1,569-8
3 Marco Zanetti 3-1.392-11
4 Sung-Uk Oh 1-1.297-10
Group D:
1 Frédéric Caudron 6-2,307-13
2 Hyun-Min Seo 3-1.593-9
3 Dick Jaspers 2-1.868-10
4 Jae-Guen Kim 1-1.390-13.
The matches for the quarter-finals:
Caudron-Seo
Sánchez-Kang
Coklu-Tran
Merckx-HJ Kim.
Dani Sánchez, three wins like Caudron
The Korean clash, HaengJik Kim vs Jae-Ho Cho: a draw and Kim to the last eight
Torbjörn Blomdahl, out of the game after Coklu's three points to the draw
Hyun-Min Seo, second best in the group with Caudron and Jaspers