SHARM EL SHEIKH - We are two hours before the World Cup kick-off, on a wonderful, sunny terrace of the players' hotel in Sharm El Sheikh. Willem Hofman, the two-metre tall Dutch referee, already swallowed his first coffees. ''I had a few words with some cheeky Russians, they wanted to take over our terrace table right away. I told them they met the wrong Dutchman to send me away.'' Most of the players for the first few days have arrived in Sharm, so have the referees from various countries. The billiard arena looks great, ready for a wonderful start with 150 participants from all over the world. Marc Verhoeven, the Belgian billiard master, just made a final check of the eight match tables he set up in the three days before the tournament.
Farouk Barki, president of the world federation and organizer of this World Cup in Egypt, looked back on the run-up and the preparation with satisfaction yesterday in his office and organisation centre. ''The players are slowly arriving, the hotels are completely full booked, the weather is great, the ambiance. We are facing a fantastic World Cup'', he gloated.
The start of the first day of play in the Park Regency Resort at Garden Bay in Sharm El Sheikh is this morning (Sunday) at 11 am local time, 10 am in Western Europe. The schedule for that first day has changed in a few places. Dutchman Volkan Cetin and German Thomas Kerl are substitutes for two players who have cancelled.
Volkan Cetin, who travelled in a hurry after being informed by the World Cup organisation, arrived this Saturday night at 1 o'clock local time with Roland Forthomme, Dutch champion Ludo Kools, Karina Jetten and referee Willem Hofman. The hotel rooms were fully booked, actually, but after two hours of improvisation, tired Volkan Cetin was able to check in. This morning, Sunday, is his first match against Berkay Karakurt, the young Turk who came second in a Turkish top event last week.
Herman van Daalen, the jovial player from The Hague, is also showing up today, the Turkish Mujde Karakasli is making her entrance, Gerhard Kostistanski, Nikolaus Kogelbauer, Karina Jetten, Yvan Mayor and the three Belgian billiard tourists, Alain, Thierry and Christian, who were seen singing happily with fans at the dinner table on Saturday evening.
The World Cup start still coincides with the team competitions in the Netherlands. And the first session of a double weekend was played yesterday in Germany. There, form of some World Cup top players was tested. Dick Jaspers won his match against Dion Nelin with 50-27 in 21, Torbjörn Blomdahl beat Huub Wilkowski 50-24 in 23, Martin Horn was the better of Murat Naci Coklu 50-45 in 27, Peter Ceulemans won his match to Nikos Polychronopoulos 50-44 and Jacob Haack Sörensen played the best match of the whole round with 50 in 16 innings.
Sunday, morning. The doors of the venue in Sharm El Sheikh swing open, just half an hour before the start. Table 1, the TV table, is ready for an Egyptian, Salah Abdin, and an American, George Karam. ...Let the games begin...
Belgian billiard expert Marc Verhoeven checking the 8 match tables before the start
First games have started, picture Bilo