HO CHI MINH - The champion in his latter days stunned the world against the greatest of all young talents. Torbjörn Blomdahl (60) won the World Cup final in Ho Chi Minh this Sunday against Myung Woo Cho (24) 50-44 in 33 innings. The Swedish phenom fought back in this final after a poor start and grew above his Korean opponent after the break. It was Torbjörn's 46th victory in a World Cup. Myung Woo Cho remains on one World Cup victory for now, the one of last year in Sharm El Sheikh. The brilliant success of Blomdahl, who has only just recovered from groin surgery, was marked by the high run of 26 in his first appearance, two caroms off the world record and a personal best for the Swede. The second 2023 World Cup went to two European/Korean encounters on the final day, after an Asian-dominated run-up. Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden) eliminated Jun Tae Kim (South Korea) 50-31 in 30, Myung Woo Cho (South Korea) defeated Martin Horn (Germany) 50-34 in 24. The beaming winner was adorned with floral wreaths on the podium and received the prize of 16,000 euros. Blomdahl won a World Cup in Vietnam for the first time, five times before he won in Asia (3x Tokyo, 1x Yokohoma, 1x Suwon).
The sensational start (with 26 from the start against Dion Nelin) then took Blomdahl successively to victories over two Vietnamese, the big favorite Quyet Chien Tran and Phuong Vinh Bao. Spaniard Jose Maria Mas was defeated in the round with the best 16, then Blomdahl started his mission against three Koreans: Jung Han Heo in the quarter-finals, Jun Tae Kim in the semi-finals and finally Myung Woo Cho in the final. Torbjörn thus belied the stories after the start in this World Cup that the Koreans and Vietnamese overwhelmed all the Europeans. The follow-up phase of the tournament, thanks in part to Blomdahl, Horn, Zanetti, Jaspers, Mas and Polychronopoulos, also showed something of the opposite.
The Swede Blomdahl gained 14 match points, played one of the best averages with 2.025 and, needless to say, he finished with the best run (26). He rises to third place in the world rankings following Dick Jaspers and Marco Zanetti
The final in Ho Chi Minh was awaited with great interest, as the old maestro and record champion faced the coming-man of three-cushion. Myung Woo Cho was the much better starter with runs of 5, 5 and 4, where Blomdahl scored only three times in six innings: 20-6. The Korean ran further out to 25-7, but after the break Blomdahl started his catch-up race with a run of 12 in the 13th inning. The Swede led 28-27 for the first time, fell behind once more at 34-32, but pulled off victory in the closing stages with runs of 4 and 6 and after a weak finish by the Korean, the final score was 50-44 in 33.
Blomdahl dealt with Jun Tae Kim, the player who had eliminated Nikos Polychronopoulos, among others, in a spectacular final (50-49), in the semi-finals. Against Blomdahl, Kim had lost control and could not go higher than two runs of 5. Blomdahl decided that match five innings before the end with a run of 9: 50-31 in 30. Martin Horn, also strong in the preliminary stage, including wins over Robinson Morales and Dick Jaspers, lacked that form on the final day, preventing the German from really shining against Myung Woo Cho: 50-34 in 24.
Torbjörn Blomdahl reacted around midnight (Vietnam) with a nice comment: ’’I am super happy, especially because I showed that I can still win against all these young players. I started very well, actually played a bit less afterwards, but I still managed to turn it upside down in the final when I was able to put Myung Woo Cho under pressure with a couple of runs. That made it to a very nice final. I'm going to celebrate properly with some other players.''
The UMB, world billiards federation, spoke to PBA manager Mr Lee on Saturday about possible cooperation. Farouk Barki (UMB) did not want to comment. ’’I will discuss it with my board and the federations first. We cannot resolve a five-year conflict in one day.''
Torbjörn Blomdahl with the flowers and the trophy on the podium
Blomdahl viert zijn overwinning in de arena
The four final players, Jun Tae Kim, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Myung Woo Cho, Martin Horn
The final ranking at the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh:
- Torbjörn Blomdahl 14-2.025-26
- Myung Woo Cho 9-1.839-12
- Jun Tae Kim 10-1.695-13
- Martin Horn 8-1.668-14
- Sameh Sidhom 8-1.666-13
- Dick Jaspers 7-1.834-11
- Quyet Chien Tran 6-2.000-11
- Jung Han Heo 6-1.839-17
- Tayfun Tasdemir 6-2.100-12
- Robinson Morales 6-1.822-12
- Tolgahan Kiraz 5-1.377-9
- Marco Zanetti 4-2.068-13
- Myeong Jong Cha 4-1.774-10
- Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-1.718-12
- Trung Hau Do Nguyen 4-1.340-15
- Jose Maria Mas 3-1.180-10.
The new world ranking, top 25
- Dick Jaspers 443
- Marco Zanetti 383
- Torbjörn Blomdahl 362
- Dani Sánchez 350
- Tayfun Taşdemir 340
- Myung Woo Cho 325
- Eddy Merckx 317
- Sameh Sidhom 304
- Haeng-jik Kim 183
- Quyet Chien Tran 234
- Jérémy Bury 221
- Nikos Polychronopoulos 203
- Jung-han Heo188
- Jun-Tae Kim 185
- Martin Horn 172
- Semih Sayginer 172
- Ruben Legazpi 147
- Choong-bok Lee 144
- DAC Nguyen134
- Myeong-jong Cha 131
- Roland Forthomme 123
- Murat Naci Coklu 118
- Pedro Gonzales 114
- Masshour Abu Tayeh 113
- Michael Nilsson 113
(Dani Sánchez, Semih Sayginer and Duc Anh Chien Nguyen still are in this ranking, but they left UMB after this World Cup and will play for PBA next season).