VIERSEN - On the day that Mr. Farouk el Barki, president of the world federation, announced that the Scotch Double system will disappear next year and the feelings were mixed. Proponents of the system saw lots of high tension matches in the quarterfinals and other opponents pointed to the half filled stands. The World championship three-cushion for national teams in Viersen is heading towards an exiting final day with four of the main contenders in the final race for the gold. The Dutch excelled in a thrilling match against Vietnam, which was decided in the final part in Orange's favour by Dick Jaspers and Raimond Burgman. "We have shown what strong fighters we are with this routine couple'', commented Burgman, who made the two winning caroms. Dick Jaspers, the man with the top focus, only arrived one hour before the match, after he travelled up and down to the Netherlands. There, together with the famous kickboxer Nico Verhoeven, he was named honorary citizen of his province Brabant.
The matches for the semi-finals on Sunday:
10.00: Netherlands-Belgium
12.00: Korea-Turkije
The Turkish couple took revenge for the match in the final pre-rounds against Colombia and now defeated the South Americans 40-31 (24) in the match for the semi-finals. Robinson Morales and Huberney Cataño couldn't show the high class as one day before in the best match in the qualifications. The Turks realized, "We were defeated one day before by a fantastic team, 40-38 in sixteen innings." The replay in the quarterfinals turned it upside down. Murat Naci Coklu and Lütfi Cenet, who play together for the first time at this World championship after four world titles for the Turks, eliminated the Colombian train 40-31 in 24.
In the second evening session, the Belgians faced Austria, a feared fighter in Viersen in recent years, and the defending champion Korea played against France. The high ranked Belgians faced a 21-14 deficit in 12 at the break, turned the score after the break into a 25-23 lead. The Koreans led against France halfway, 22-13 in 15, ran out to 29-16 and won the match 40-18 in 26. The Austrians didn't give up in a high level match, threatened the Belgians until the last part (34-34 in 16), but then Merckx prepared the winning point for Caudron: 40-34 in 19.
The pre-rounds were closed on Saturday afternoon with Belgium and Korea as the two undefeated teams in the field of sixteen. The Belgians also played the best average over three games: 1,714 for Turkey with 1,661, Vietnam with 1,630, the Netherlands with 1,609 and Colombia with 1,586. Robinson Morales and Huberney Cataño signed for the best individual match with the win over Turkey: 40-38 in 16 innings (2,500). The highest series in the qualifications was for Turkey with 11 for Belgium with 10.
Fun after the win of the Turkish team over Colombia
The Korean title holder with HaengJik Kim and Jae-Ho Cho, facing Turkey in the semi-finals
Eddy Merckx preparing the winning shot for Frédéric Caudron