BURSA - The world champion Torbjörn Blomdahl and the 2015 World Cup winner Dani Sánchez are topping the list of participants fort he first World Cup in 2016. The Turkish city of Bursa (1.8 million inhabitants), in the region of Marmara, is hosting the first World Cup in this year's cycle of six tournaments from the 1st until 7th of Februari. The opener will be held in the Bursa Ataturk Congress Culture Centre. The city in north western Anatolia is known as one of the biggest industrial cities of the country and for its popular ski resort Mount Uludag.
The first WC meeting with all the famous players precedes the gala for the Supercup in Antwerp on March 5. On the night Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez battle for the Supercup, also the 2015 Player of the year will be chosen.
The Bursa World Cup is new on the calendar this year like the organization in La Baule, France. The schedule for this year: Bursa (1-7 Feb), Luxor (27 March-April 2), Hochiminh (16-22 May) Guri (5-11 Sept), La Baule (24-30 October) and Hurghada (11-17 December).
For the opener in the Turkish town, 150 players have signed up. The top twelve with seeded players: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dani Sánchez, Dick Jaspers, Eddy Merckx, Tayfun Tasdemir, Marco Zanetti, Dong Koong Kang, Forthomme, Hyung Bum Hwang, Sameh Sidhom, Jae Ho Cho and Frédéric Caudron.
The wildcards are awarded to Haeng Jik Kim, the young Korean who returns to the circuit and received a ticket from his confederation, Semih Sayginer and Murat Naci Coklu on behalf of the Turkish organizer, Riad Nadi (ACBC) and Pedro Piedrabuena for CPB.
The organizing country has registered more than seventy players including all the known names. The player to watch is Semih Sayginer, who has found again his brilliant form after his slow comeback to the circuit. He is crowned the new champion of Turkey, rewarded with a place in the A team of Turkey at the World championship for national teams in Viersen, where he will play together with Lütfi Cenet.
More big name players in the qualifications are: Quyet Chien Tran, Quoc Nguyen Nguyen, Jae Guen Kim, Sung-Won Choi, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jung Han Heo, Ruben Legazpi, Carlos Crespo, Myung Woo Cho, Luis Aveiga, Eddy Leppens and the ladies World champion Therese Klompenhouwer.
The first round will start on February 1st at 11.00 am local time. The semifinals and finals are played on February 7th.
The total prize fund will hold 25.000 euros, with 5.500 going to the winner. The first decision of the UMB board, last Sunday, was that the UMB will support each World Cup with 5.000 euro's extra prize money for players from 5th to 32nd place.
More information about players, schedules, rankings can be found on the UMB website: www.umb-carom.org
All matches are broadcast live on www.kozoom.com