ANKARA - The World Cup organizers in Ankara had no choice but to cancel the event that had started on Monday with the first day of preliminary rounds. The decision fell on the early morning of the second day of play after consultations between UMB (World federation), organization and the Turkish government. ''The Turkish government played a main role in the decision. We had no choice but to take this difficult decision,'' UMB president Farouk Barki assured. Many players for the first days of preliminary rounds had already arrived at the Turkish federation's playing hall in Ankara. On the first day, 48 players came to the tables in two matches each, including Colombian Alexander Salazar, who had had to make the furthest trip for his one-off appearance. Also, 14 Turkish players already came in the event and played their preliminaries, like among them 12 German players most of whom were of Turkish origin.
For the second World Cup day, Koreans Sung Il Jeong, Ye Sung Jeong, Jun Hyuk Sun, and South American Alexander Salazar, among others, were ready to take the start, the same as Ahmet Alp, David Pennör, Burak Hashas, AllanSchröder, Maxime Panaia and Dustin Jäschke to name the most famous. The players for the next few days, who had arrived on Monday or were already on their way on Tuesday, can book the return trip right away. These include some top Vietnamese players, Belgians Roland Forthomme and Peter Ceulemans and Dutchmen Jeffrey Jorissen, Joey de Kok and Huub Wilkowski. Peter Ceulemans heard the news of the cancellation when he had just boarded the plane in Brussels.
The UMB reported in the announcement that action had been taken for the safety of the players and everyone involved. The artistic World championship, which was to be played in Ankara next week, has also been postponed. More information will follow later. The Turkish government has announced seven days of national mourning. The postponement of the World Cup is the subject of consultations between the UMB and other federations.
The decision of cancellation, announced just before the start of the first matches on Tuesday, was not a big surprise. Turkish players such as Semih Sayginer, Murat Naci Coklu and Berkay Karakurt had asked for it on Monday. Dutchmen Jean Paul de Bruijn and Volkan Cetin, who was already in Turkey and staying close to the disaster area, had already cancelled. Semih Sayginer said in his reaction: "The decision finally came from our Turkish billiards president, Ersan Ercan, because others, who were in the position to decide on playing on or cancelling, felt that the World Cup should continue. This is a disgrace, all Turkish players agreed. How can people let a World Cup play, or play along, when thousands of people have been affected or are still under the rubble. I am really very upset and angry. We are lucky that our president was able to convince people.''
The top Turkish player: ,,I stressed from the beginning, that this World Cup should not be played. Whoever wanted to continue playing billiards has no heart. What does billiards mean under these circumstances, that so many people are fighting for their lives or have already been found dead. A sporting event like the World Cup is a kind of celebration. What a silly and insane idea it was to let us play billiards here. I said from the first sad news that I would absolutely not play. And I hope many players had followed that example.''
World number one Dick Jaspers was planning to leave for the World Cup today, Wednesday. He said from the Netherlands: ''It is a good thing that it was cancelled, because the effects of the disaster were getting worse. I would have gone, of course, if the event had continued. Maybe then we could have done something back, for example with a donation of the prize money won.''