SAMSUN - The Dutchman Erik Vijverberg will face the major contender for the World title artistiqu, the Turkish player Haci Arap Yaman, who impressed his audience with a great performance so far. And the Belgian Eric Daelman is the challenger of another Turkish favorite in the semi-finals of this tournament: he plays against Serdar Gumus.
Sander Jonen, double world champion, has lost his title in the quarter finals tonight. The Dutchman lost the Dutch/Belgian bump against Eric Daelman (3-1, 42-10, 58-68, 41-26, 52-45, percentages 61.661/50.508). The endscore after the match was for Jonen far below his level.
Serdar Gumus and Haci Arap Yaman are - based on the results so far - the main favorites for the title. They were superior again in the quarterfinals. Kevin Tran was defeated by Gumus (3-0, 81.538/56.756). The Turk had the highest score in this session. Haci Arap Yaman beat Xavier Fonellosa, against whom he took the world title in 2008 in the final: he won 3-1 with 80.000 percent score.
The fourth player in the semifinals, Eric Vijverberg, slowly has grown into the tournament. In the quarterfinals he won against the Belgian Walter Bax 3-1, score 63.117.
Tomorrow (Sunday) Yaman meets in the semifinal Vijverberg, Gumus plays against Daelman.