BORDEAUX - The 2016 World championship did not turn out to be a memorable week for Pedro Piedrabuena, the multi-American champion. Both finalists of the Panamerican championships, Hugo Patino and Erick Tellez, have also been eliminated after two days of play in Bordeaux. Raimond Burgman, the Dutch nr. 2 in the shadow of Dick Jaspers, is out, Christian Rudolph from Germany was nowhere near the player he can and the French group of six has been reduced by two after Melnitschenko and Roux went out.
Tomorrow, Thursday, the hatchet will fall for a two thirds of the 48 participants. Only sixteen flight winners will advance to the K.O. stage, the other 32 will be spectators for the remainder of the tournament. In several groups, the decision is on a knife's edge. The sixteen losers of the first day were handed a second defeat on Wednesday, so in all groups, two winners will decide who advances.
Dani Sánchez and Dong-Koong Kang, last year's finalist, were the best winners on the second day of play, both making 40 points in 16 innings. Eddy Leppens was a good third, with 17 innings, Dick Jaspers, Haeng-Jik Kim (18) and Nikos Polychronopoulos (19) also played at a pace over 2.000. The qualifications are all geared up for an exciting conclusion.
The current situation in the groups:
Group A:
Ramon Rodriguez leads on average with 1.904, ahead of Torbjörn Blomdahl with1.481. Christakis Christoforou is out of it, after two losses.
Group B:
Jérôme Barbeillon was a much better winner (2.000) than Frédéric Caudron with 1.212. Erick Tellez returns to Costa Rica without a win.
Group C:
Dick Jaspers is the favorite with an 18 inning win to his name, Arnim Kahofer (a win in 39) is his next opponent. Antoine Gholam, no points and 0.912, was the bit-part player of the group.
Group D:
Eddy Merckx and Jae Guen Kim battle for the group win, with the advantage to the Belgian because of his average: 2.000 against 1.538. Raimond Burgman could not make an impression.
Group E:
Marco Zanetti meets Hyung-Kon Kim and has the slight advantage. Hugo Patino, the Panamerican champion, could not live up to the high expectations.
Group F:
Dani Sánchez, today's shining star, meets Pierre Soumagne, who was called in as a substitute at the last moment. Christian Rudolph is already eliminated.
Group G:
Minh Cam Ma was a slightly better winner than Sameh Sidhom. They both beat Greek Kokkoris, who will return to his country in a disappointed mood.
Group H:
Javier Palazón and Nikos Polychronopoulos both made an excellent impression, with their wins over a helpless Swiss player: 17 and 19 innings.
Group I:
Eddy Leppens showed good form against Cédric Melnytschenko; Jérémy Bury is his opponent in the decider.
Group J:
Robinson Morales had a thunderbolt start with a 14 inning match, Quyet Chien Tran needed twice that many, 28 innings, to beat Ihab El Messery. The Colombian and the Vietnamese will meet on Thursday.
Group K:
Semih Sayginer was the best player so far with 40 points in 10 innings. The Turk still needs to deal with a feared opponent before he can advance: Dong-Koong Kang. Ryuuji Umeda, a former world champion, was granted 10 and 16 innings and could not produce much.
Group L:
Jae Ho Cho looks to be the favorite after his 25 inning win over Riad Nady, Radek Novak needed 38 innings to do likewise. The Egyptian is out.
Group M:
Huberney Cataño and Roland Forthomme needed 24 and 25 innings to beat Lars Dunch, respectively. The Colombian has the slight advantage.
Group N:
Tayfun Tasdemir crawled out of his little hole just in time to beat Jean-Christophe Roux, after trailing most of the match. The Turk won 40-38 in 38 and will have hard work when he faces Quoc Nguyen-Nguyen.
Group O:
Haeng-Jik Kim was never in trouble against Pedro Piedrabuena in the last session of the evening, he won in 18 innings. Marc Boigneres, a French outsider, will be his opponent tomorrow.
Group P:
Jung-Han Heo did not show his best against Guillermo Perez (41 innings), Murat Naci Coklu looked a lot better when he used 23 to beat the Argentine.
The most interesting matches, at least on paper, for Thursday, the final day of qualification:
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Ramon Rodriguez
Frédéric Caudron-Jérôme Barbeillon
Eddy Merckx-Jae Guen Kim
Marco Zanetti-Hyung-Kon Kim
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Javier Palazón
Jérémy Bury-Eddy Leppens
Quyet Chien Tran-Robinson Morales
Dong-Koong Kang-Semih Sayginer
Tayfun Tasdemir-Quoc Nguyen Nguyen
Jung Han Heo-Murat Naci Coklu.
The French player is down and out after two losses
Roland Forthomme, the fourth Belgian who is playing for the group win
The Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran, losing finalist in the recent LG U+ Cup in Seoul
Eddy Leppens, solid win over Melnytschenko after being 11-1 down at the start
Kozoom Korea director William Oh (middle) in the VIP stands with Kyu-Seong Cho, Kozoom investor and French top player Francis Connesson
The French top referee Daniel Garonnat showing his talent as a player in the practicing room
The ambiance in the VIP stands of the World championship