3-Cushion
NEW YORK - In the three stylish arenas of the McCreery tournament in New York, five players have entered the top of the ranking in the fight for four places in the final rounds. The champions gala goes into the second half with a wonderful bunch of matches. Turkish star Semih Sayginer is the only player of twelve still undefeated. Frédéric Caudron, with 2.120 the best on average, has the same match points as Sayginer (8), but one game in advance. Dick Jaspers, Pedro Piedrabuena and Eddy Merckx are the main pursuers with a virtual two points margin. The ranking leaders are not far away from the mutual clashes. Today (Wednesday), Caudron and Merckx already meet at 12.00 am (18.00 in Belgium and Western Europe). Other striking matches coming up: Sayginer-Sánchez, Zanetti-Blomdahl, Jaspers-Choi. All matches can be watched live and for free on kozoom.com. A Kozoom account is required.
The field of twelve players, from which the winner will eventually be rewarded by 150.000 dollar, has been telescoped on the third day of playing, The top two went unharmed throughout the day: Sayginer with victories over Kim (40-37 in 24) and Patiño (40-32 in 17/16), Caudron with wins over Blomdahl (40-38 in 17/16) and Kim ( 40-23 in 13/12). The Turkish leader shines as in his best days with brilliant and miracle points, of which he himself says with a mysterious look into the cameras: ,,Very easy for me to play like that...'' Sayginer is showing up with lots of flair and self-confidence and doesn't shrink from deficits in a match. The Korean Kim started with a 14-0 lead in three innings, Sayginer replicated by 13 and then ran out to a close finish.
Frédéric Caudron as well presented his candidacy for an almost certain final place with a masterly performance in his match with Torbjörn Blomdahl. The Swede finally played at his usual level, took an option on the win, but was defeated by Caudron after a crucial 9-run in the final sprint, 40-38. The match against HaengJik Kim, in the tenth round, was another tour of force: Caudron winning 40-23 in only thirteen innings.
Marco Zanetti climbed to the long middle part with two victories and is still looking for a miracle to sneak into the top four after his poor start. The recovery of the Italian was impressive with wins over Jaspers and Sánchez. Torbjörn Blomdahl, the other slow-starter, bounced to Caudron, but beat Eddy Merckx 40-29 in 18 in the last session of the day.
Jaspers, Piedrabuena and Merckx made one misstep all three. The American had a narrow escape against Hugo Patiño, who lost his way after a big lead (20-4) and went down in closing stage 40-39. Merckx was the better of Ceulemans, but lost to Blomdahl. The Belgian clash against Caudron, today, is crucial for Meerckx' further chances. Jaspers also defeated Ceulemans, but lost to Zanetti.
The ranking after the third day:
1 Semih Sayginer 5-10-1.802-13
2 Frédéric Caudron 6-10-2.120-18
3 Dick Jaspers 6-8-1,752-16
4 Pedro Piedrabuena 6-8-1.587-9
5 Eddy Merckx 5-6-1.514-8
6 Sung-Won Choi 5-4-1.738-12
7 HaengJik Kim 5-4-1.650-11
8 Dani Sánchez 5-4-1.621-12
9 Marco Zanetti 6-4-1.451-12
10 Hugo Patiño 6-4-1.428-15
11 Raymond Ceulemans 5-2-1.125-7
12 Torbjörn Blomdahl 6-2-1.643-14.
The matches for today, Wednesday:
10.00:
Ceulemans-Patiño
Sánchez-Sayginer
Kim-Piedrabuena
12.00:
Caudron-Merckx
Zanetti-Blomdahl
Jaspers-Choi
15.00:
Choi-Sayginer
Merckx-Kim
Sánchez-Ceulemans.
Frédéric Caudron, chasing at the leading position, best average of the field
Korean HaengJik Kim, beaten by Semih Sayginer