HO CHI MINH - The maestro of the first hours in the Ho Chi Minh World Cup had a stunning start. The 60-year Torbjörn Blomdahl opened his mission on Vietnamese soil with a phenomenal run of 26 against Dion Nelin. The miss in that first inning broke the attempt to attack the 28 world record (Komori, Ceulemans, Caudron, Forthomme). The absolute highlight on this first day in the main draw immediately put the Swede in the role of on of the big contenders. In that ultimate moment, he was just three caroms away from the absolute record and the super premium of 29,000 euros set by the world federation on improving the world record. The other standouts of this first day included Robinson Morales, the Colombian Spaniard, who beat young Korean Myung Woo Cho in a terrific final sprint 40-35 in 17 innings and was one of the players with the maximum six match points. That was also for Torbjörn Blomdahl (6-2,448-26), Tayfun Tasdemir (6-2,105-13), Robinson Morales (6-2,033-14), Sameh Sidhom (6-1,714-8) and Jun Tae Kim (6-1,621-8). Best in average was Quyet Chien Tran, second in the group following Blomdahl, with 2,609.
Among the eliminated players in a favorite role were Eddy Merckx, last year's World Cup winner in Ho Chi Minh, who grabbed just outside the top two positions in the group with Cha and Horn. But also Haeng Jik Kim, the top Korean player, failed to qualify for the last 32.
The draw for the next round, the first knock-outs, showed amazing matches like Dick Jaspers-Marco Zanetti, Robinson Morales-Martin Horn and Tayfun Tasdemir-Myung Woo Cho.
Torbjörn Blomdahl, like in other super runs, had a setback after that famous start against Nelin: he then scored only 3 runs of 1, 4 runs of 2 and 1 run of 3 (final run) for a later score of 40-11 in 11 innings. The build-up to the run was flawless with many good positions. Fifteen times Blomdahl scored a point over three rails, seven times over four rails and four times over five rails. The 27th carom, a round-the-table shot, was missing due to a kiss: Blomdahl hit ball two slightly too thick, causing that the object ball knocked the third ball in the far corner.
The draw for the matches with the top 16:
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Jose Maria Mas
Jung Han Heo-Tolgahan Kiraz
Jun Tae Kim-Nikos Polychronopoulos
Sameh Sidhom-Trung Hau Do Nguyen
Robinson Morales-Martin Horn
Dick Jaspers-Marco Zanetti
Myeong Jong Cha-Quyet Chien Tran
Tayfun Tasdemir-Myung Woo Cho.
The summaries of the eight groups:
Group A:
Jaspers-Dinh-Kiraz-Abu Tayeh
Dick Jaspers' start opens all prospects as the Dutchman wins against Quang Hai Dinh 40-20 in 15 and Tolgahan Kiraz needs much more, even 40 innings for his win against Mashhour Abu Tayeh (40-33). Those two winners play a draw against each other when Jaspers going out in the 25th innings and Kiraz making the draw with 3. Vietnamese Dinh retains a slight chance by his winning score toe Abu Tayeh (40-31 in 28), but has to put Kiraz ahead in the final session. The Turk beats his opponent 40-37 in 29. Jaspers wins his last against Abu Tayeh 40-24 in 24 to finish 1.875 on average ahead of Kiraz with 1.276.
The final ranking in Group A:
1 Dick Jaspers 5-1.875-9
2 Tolgahan Kiraz 5-1.276-7
3 Quang Hai Dinh 2-1,347-10
4 Mashhour Abu Tayeh 0-0.956-6
Group B:
Tasdemir-DH Kim-Mas-DAC Nguyen
Tayfun Tasdemir puts an end to the winning streak of Jose Maria Mas in the second session, who was a two-time day winner in the preliminary rounds and in this group of four decided the first game against Duc Anh Chien Nguyen, the future PBA player, in a win 40-35 in 26. Tasdemir, the world champion, started strongly against Dong Hoon Kim (40-30 in 23) and beat Mas 40-19 in 19 in the second round, while Duc Anh Chien saw his opponent Dong Hoon Kim miss the equalizer at 40-38. Jose Maria Mas, the revelation of this World Cup, draws against Dong Hoon Kim thanks to a magnificent equalizer, 7. That puts him second on match points in the final ranking of Group B following Tasdemir.
The final ranking in Group B:
1 Tayfun Tasdemir 6.2.105-13
2 Jose Maria Mas 3-1,356-10
3 Duc Anh Chien Nguyen 2-1,229-10
4 Dong Hoon Kim 1-1,285-6
Group C:
Zanetti-TL Tran-JT Kim-Hwang
The second session is crucial as the two winners from the first round meet. Marco Zanetti launches the match against Jun Tae Kim with 10 in the third inning, the Korean answers around the 10th inning with 7, 7 and 5. Kim finishes with 3, 2 and 2, Zanetti with 6 and 2 and misses the equalizer (40-39 in 17). Tran remains in the race by winning over Hwang 40-36 in 24 and needs a win over Kim. Jun Tae Kim moves to the maximum score by winning in the last against Tran, Marco Zanetti plays superbly in his last against Hwang (40-17 in 14) and finishes with the best average in second place.
The final standings in Group C:
1 Jun Tae Kim 6-1,621-8
2 Marco Zanetti 4-2,245-13
3 Thanh Luc Tran 2-1,472-9
4 Bong Joo Hwang 0-1,313-13
Group D:
Merckx-Cha-Horn-Thai
Martin Horn starts miraculously well, beating Vietnamese Thai 40-21 in 13, one of the better games in the opening rounds. Eddy Merckx wins against Cha in 20 innings, the match between Horn and Merckx is won by the German 40-33 in 32, while Myeong Jong Cha waits for his chance with a good win over Thai (40-27 in 17). The Korean even becomes group winner as he beats Horn in the last 40-33 in 27. The victim is Eddy Merckx. Last year's winner in Ho Chi Minh draws against Thai (40-40 in 30) in his last match, but would not have moved up to second place even with a win. Cha and Horn finish with 4 match points and better averages.
The final standings in Group D:
1 Myeong Jong Cha 4-1,812-10
2 Martin Horn 4-1,569-14
3 Eddy Merckx 3-1,378-14
4 Hong Chiem Thai 1-1,466-5
Group E:
HJ Kim-Do Nguyen-Heo-DR Kim
Vietnamese player Trung Hau Do
Nguyen continues to stunt in the main draw, beating Haeng Jik Kim 40-16 in 20 innings in his first match. That result sets the tone for this group, where Jung Han Heo first gets past Dong Ryong Kim (40-35 in 19) and then puts Nguyen in his place with 40-17 in 17. Haeng Jik Kim beats the other Kim in this group (40-29 in 23), but in the final round, it all turns out differently than expected. Nguyen wins against Dong Ryong Kim, taking him to 4 match points. Haeng Jik Kim still wins against Heo (40-33 in 30), but comes up short in average in the battle with three 4-point players.
The final standings in Group E:
1 Jung Han Heo 4-1,712-6
2 Trung Hau Do Nguyen 4-1,644-15
3 Haeng Jik Kim 4-1,315-13
4 Dong Ryong Kim 0-1,484-6
Group F:
Sidhom-Ahn-Polychronopoulos-Cenet
Sameh Sidhom came back from a big deficit against Nikos Polychronopoulos as the Greek (28-14 and 32-18 ahead) dropped down and made only four more one-points in his last eight innings. The Egyptian thus wins 40-36 in 21 and is in a safe harbour after the 40-38 against Ahn after two rounds. Sidhom even remains unbeaten as he also beats Cenet in the final round. Polychronopoulos wins first against Cenet, the Turk also forfeiting his second game after a missed match ball, before Ahn passes the finish line with five. 'Poly' grabs second place by winning over Ahn 40-24 in 22.
The final standings in Group F:
1 Sameh Sidhom 6-1,714-8
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 4-1,681-8
3 Ji Hun Ahn 2-1,275-8
4 Lütfi Cenet 0-1,142-9
Group G:
Blomdahl-Nelin-QC Tran-Bao
Blomdahl's fabulous start (the run of 26) continues in his second match against Quyet Chien Tran, considered the big favorite of the Vietnamese home crowd. Blomdahl now starts with 6 and 6 in the first 4 innings, sets up the final attack with 10, 5 and 4 towards the finish and wins 40-27 in 13. The Swedish whirlwind makes a big impression and is at 3.333 on average after two rounds, by far the highest of the 32 finalists. Tran, who also opens strongly in 13 innings against Bao (40-16) has to force qualification against Dion Nelin (who wins from Bao 40-34 in 23). The Vietnamese rescued by a win against Nelin (40-27 in 15) and also realiaed the best average of all 32 players over three matches: 2.609. Torbjörn Blomdahl also wins his third match against Bao, who is far ahead, but 8 misses in a row in the closing stages leave the win to Blomdahl: 40-37 in 25. The Swede finishes 2.448 on average and has by far the best run.
The final ranking in Group G:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 6-2,448-26
2 Quyet Chien Tran 4-2.609-11
3 Dion Nelin 2-1,591-9
4 Phuong Vinh Bao 0-1,426-7
Group H:
MW Cho-Karakurt-Bury-Morales
What a battle this is between young Korean Myung Woo Cho and Colombian Robinson Morales. The match seems decided as Cho has run out to 35-25 in the closing stages, but Morales gets a sudden boost in that last part. He even looks to finish the match, but is stranded on one carom in his run of 14. Myung Woo Cho gets two more chances, misses once improbably (around the corner) and sees Morales finish on his third match ball: 40-35 in 17. That match also proves decisive for the top two positions, although the tension at the end is still up for grabs between Myung Woo Cho and Jérémy Bury. The Korean wins his first against Omer Karakurt (40-16 in 13), Morales his first against Bury (40-33 in 24). However, the Colombian is unbeatable and also wins against Cho 40-35 in 16 and against Karakurt (40-32 in 19). As a result, Cho and Bury are both on two points before their mutual match. That one takes an exciting course. Bury leads 20-5 after his 10th inning, Cho slowly fights back, but the end takes a lot from the nerves of both players. The Frenchman misses three times for his 40th carom, the Korean twice his match point. Eventually, it is 40-39 for Bury, after which Cho equalizes in his last attempt. That is enough for second place on average.
The final standings in Group H:
1 Robinson Morales 6-2.033-14
2 Myung Woo Cho 3-2.017-9
3 Jérémy Bury 3-1.395-8
4 Omer Karakurt 0-1.409-12.
Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dion Nelin before the sensational match starting with 26 by Blomdahl
Torbjörn Blomdahl on his way to super run
Robinson Morales' stunning finish against Myung Woo Cho
Tayfun Tasdemir
Dick Jaspers
Eddy Merckx
Jun Tae Kim
Martin Horn
Trang Hau Do Nguyen
PICTURES TEE BENJAMIN (KOZOOM VIETNAM)