Carom
ISTANBUL - Turkish champion Ahmet Alp and his business partner Zafer Kamaci are preparing in the Arena Billardo in Istanbul for a major tournament, the Arena Cup. The qualifications, with 130 players, start on Saturday (17 August). The final rounds are from 22 to August 25. Two foreign heavyweights, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Filippos Kasidokostas are invited and belong to the eight players for the final rounds, put together with six best Turkish players on the ranking.
The Arena Billardo club in Fındıkzade in Istanbul, with Ahmet Alp and Zafer Kamaci as organizers of the Arena Cup, belongs to the three biggest billiard clubs in Istanbul, together with Max Club and Platinum Club.
The Turkish players have massively signed in for the tournament: they’re going to put up a tough fight for the final tournament. 24 players remain for the final round, they are complemented by the best six Turks on the national rankings: Tayfun Tasdemir, Murat Naci Coklu, Adnan Yüksel, Lütfi Cenet, Ahmet Alp and Savas Bulut.
With Torbjörn Blomdahl and Filippos Kasidokostas as foreign celebrities, the total for the final round comes to 32. They meet in eight groups of four for sixteen places in the knockout stages.
The preliminary rounds are played to 35 points, in the main tournament to 40.
The total prize is 6.000 euros.
The matches can be followed on the website of Arena cafe billardo.
The sponsors of the tournament are Danislar Tekstil, Lambretta, Diva and Theory.
The Arena Cup is organized for the first time and is not on the calendar for the national rankings. Two tournaments of four are held for the Turkish championship so far. Tayfun Tasdemir leads the rankings ahead of Mehmet Aksoy, Murat Tüzül and Tolgahan Kiraz.