Tran, Sidhom and Tasdemir are missing in finals World Cup

SHARM EL SHEIKH - Three players from the world's top ten rankings have been eliminated from the main prizes before the knock-outs in the Sharm El Sheikh World Cup. Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran, Egyptian Sameh Sidhom (in his own country) and former world champion Tayfun Tasdemir do not return to the World Cup which continues on Friday with 16 players remaining from the 32 in the first round of the main draw. The last World Cup this year does enter the final two days with very surprising finalists. Dutchman Glenn Hofman, Vietnamese Thanh Luc Tran, Colombian Daniel Morales and Turk Tolgahan Kiraz were group winners. Burak Hashas, at 17, is by far the youngest player in the field with 16 for the knock-outs. Marco Zanetti had to fight for his position until the last matches, but did finish with the best average with 4 match points: 2.203. Jun Tae Kim with 5 match points also scored high with 2.142, Dick Jaspers, second in his group, was the third above 2 average with 2.018.

Many well known players perished on the day, which saw very nice battles for the top two positions in each group. Four players achieved the maximum match points: Eddy Merckx, Martin Horn, Thanh Luc Tran and Daniel Morales. Of the dropouts in this round, Berkay Karakurt was the only one with 4 match points. Quyet Chien Tran (1 match point), Sameh Sidhom (3 match points), Tayfun Tasdemir (1 point) and Jung Han Heo (0 points) were the biggest names to be out.

The round of 32 in the main draw resulted in the knock-outs with sixteen finalists on Friday:

11.00 (Western Europe 10.00)

Eddy Merckx-Torbjörn Blomdahl

Glenn Hofman-Marco Zanetti

Jun Tae Kim-Jérémy Bury

Daniel Morales-Phuong Vinh Bao

13.30 (Western Europe 12.30):

Thanh Luc Tran-Burak Hashas

Tolgahan Kiraz-Chang Hoon Seo

Haeng Jik Kim-Dick Jaspers

Martin Horn-Myung Woo Cho

Marco Zanetti, strong fighter, best average

Martin Horn among the best winners with 6 matchpoints

Vietnamese Thanh Luc Tran, one of the new kids

The overview of the 8 groups on Thursday:

Group A:

1. What a nice start for Marco Zanetti, who explodes in his first match against Ahmet Alp after a cautious start (7-5 in 7) with 5, 13, 10 and 4 in six innings and then leads 39-12 in 13. The tone is set for the group, in which Daniel Morales establishes his candidacy on the other table by winning over Roland Forthomme 40-28 in 26. The odds turn when Zanetti is beaten by Colombia's Daniel Morales in his second match by a minimal margin. In the closing stages of the match, Zanetti has a clash with the French referee and the ending takes on a grim character. Morales wins the match 40-39 in 25 innings. Ahmet Alp recovers beautifully from the start against Zanetti (losing in 14 innings) and wins his second against Forthomme himself also in 14 innings (40-22). It turns into a thrilling ending with Roland Forthomme getting on match point shortly before the finish against Zanetti with a run of 12 and Zanetti going to a superb finish with 6 (40-39 in 15).

 The final score in Group A:

Daniel Morales 6-1,363-8

1. Marco Zanetti 4-2.203-13
2. Ahmet Alp 2-1.446-12
3. Roland Forthomme 0-1.618-12

Group B:

Talking about a first sensation. Myung Woo Cho, the world number one, opens against Berkay Karakurt, the best reserve of the last qualifiers. The outsider subdues the top favorite. Karakurt has it all under control. The score is 11-11 in 11, Karakurt is the clear winner with three 4’s in the final stage: 40-34 in 33 innings. Glenn Hofman starts his mission with a generous win over Riad Nady: 40-25 in 22. Hofman, already in the winning mood from the preliminaries, is also in control throughout the match against Berkay Karakurt, winning 40-35 in 26. The final stage will be decisive, as Myung Woo Cho wins against Nady 40-27 in 28. The group ends with three players on four points, as Cho wins against Hofman in the final round (40-32 in 22) and Karakurt does win vs. Nady (40-32 in 28), but he falls just short of Cho in average.

Standings Group B:

1. Glenn Hofman 4-1,600-10
2. Myung Woo Cho 4-1,373-10
3. Berkay Karakurt 4-1.321-7
4. Riad Nady 0-1.0787-8

Group C:

1. Torbjörn Blomdahl showes his ambitions from the start with a strong performance against young Vietnamese Hong Chiem Thai. The Swede leads 21-8 after six innings without a zero score and makes two 7’s (against two 6’s for Thai) to finish: 40-30 in 20. Martin Horn puts the young Egyptian Mahoud Ayman in his place with 40-25 in 24. The European clash between Blomdahl and Horn is won by the German 40-33 in 25, giving Horn the lead unbeaten after two rounds. Hong Chiem Thai beats Ayman 40-29 in 33. Torbjörn Blomdahl and Mahmoud Ayman tie in the last game in 40 innings, but Hong Chiem Thai cannot capitalise on the Swede's half-miss. Thai loses to Horn, who remains unbeaten, 40-35 in 30.

Standings Group C:

1. Martin Horn 6-1,518-9
2. Torbjörn Blomdahl 3-1.329-8
3. Hong Chiem Thai 2-1,265-7
4. Mahmoud Ayman 1-0.969-6

Group D:

It is hardly a tradition in the last tournaments, but Dick Jaspers does not have a great start and lets himself be trounced by Thanh Luc Tran, one of the lesser-known Vietnamese. The Dutch champion misses remarkably often and even falls behind 36-24 for a final score of 40-31 in 30. It will undoubtedly be exciting in this group, as Omer Karakurt beats Jung Han Heo 40-35 in 31. Dick Jaspers is tormented after his loss and plays a brilliant match against Jung Han Heo, the other loser of the first session. The Dutchman shines especially in the final stage with 10, 2 and 7 to win 40-22 in 10, the best match so far. Tanh Luc Tran remains unbeaten by winning against Omer Karakurt 40-37 in 36 innings. The Vietnamese is already definitely qualified, Jaspers has yet to win against Karakurt. The Dutchman does so thanks to a run of 13 and a 40-17 win in 15. Jung Han Heo very surprisingly remains without match points after his loss against Tran. The Vietnamese takes the maximum points and 1.379.

Group D standings:

1. Thanh Luc Tran 6-1,379-7
2. Dick Jaspers 4-2,018-13
3. Omer Karakurt 2-1,146-6
4. Jung Han Heo 0-1,467-8

 Group E: 

1. Jun Tae Kim is a much better starter than Quyet Chien Tran. The Korean wins over his compatriot Seo 40-37 in 21, narrowly avoiding his opponent's final sprint of 8. Tran has a moderate opening against Goren with 40-36 in 33. Jun Tae Kim secures his ticket to the next round with a win over Goren 40-24 in 19. Seo beat Tran 40-32 in 18, eliminating the top Vietnamese player with 0 out of 2. Seo and Goren battle for second place. Jun Tae Kim closes with 5 match points as he ties against Quyet Chien Tran in his last game. Chang Hoon Seo grabs the second position by winning against Goren 40-30 in 24. The sensation is that Quyet Chien Tran finishes last with 1 point and 1,611.

Standings Group E:

1. Tolgahan Kiraz 5-1,818-15
2. Jérémy Bury 4-1,847-11
3. Sameh Sidhom 3-1,293-8
4. Muammer Rahmet 0-1,225-8

Group F:

The fireworks come from Tolgahan Kiraz at the start. The Turk, playing against the stuntman of the preliminary rounds, Muammer Rahmet, goes to a good win with runs of 15 and 12: 40-26 in 15. Jérémy Bury also opens surprisingly strong, as the Frenchman leaves Sidhom already 20-7 in 10 at the break and wins 40-17 in 18 after a run of 10. Turk Kiraz, good for runs of 15 and 12, is the revelation of the group. First he beats Jérémy Bury 40-29 in 18 and finally he shares the points with Sameh Sidhom, 40-40 in 33. That puts him in the lead with 5 match points, ahead of Jérémy Bury, who in his last game is too strong for Muammer Rahmet, one of the heroes of this tournament, 40-14 in 23.

Standings Group F:

1. Tolgahan Kiraz 5-1,818-15
2. Jérémy Bury 4-1,847-11
3. Sameh Sidhom 3-1293-8
4. Muammer Rahmet 0-1,225-8

Group G:

The Belgian clash ends with the expected winner. Eddy Merckx is better than Peter Ceulemans and wins 40-24 in 23. The world champion, Phuong Vinh Bao, has the better sprint than Sam van Etten, who sees his little misses punished at the end: 40-36 in 28. Eddy Merckx proves himself the superior winner with subsequent wins against Bao (40-30 in 24) and Van Etten (40-25 in 25) as well, and then the battle for second position remains. This goes to Phuong Vinh Bao, who wins his final, decisive match against Peter Ceulemans 40-29 in 19. Sam van Etten remains pointless at the bottom after a strong tournament.

Standings in Group G:

1. Eddy Merckx 6-1,666-8
2. Phuong Vinh Bao 4-1,549-8
3. Peter Ceulemans 2-1,240-7
4. Sam van Etten 0-1,139-6

Group H:

Another sensation in the first day rounds. Burak Hashas, young and carefree, beat Turkish No1 Tayfun Tasdemir 40-33 in 24 to take an early option on qualification. Haeng Jik Kim is winner on the other table against Gwendal Maréchal: 40-35 in 30. Hashas stumbles after his good start over Haeng Jik Kim 40-38 in 31, leaving the battle wide open again for the final session. Haeng Jik Kim, already definitely qualified, agrees a 40-40 with Tasdemir, who is finishing with 1 match point. Burak Hashas wins the duel with Gwendal Maréchal for the second qualification in this group: 40-25 in 28.

Group H standings:

1. Haeng Jik Kim 5-1,463-7
2. Burak Hashas 4-1,421-9
3. Gwendal Maréchal 2-1,408-8
4. Tayfun Tasdemir 1-1,568-9.