Dani Sánchez and the sleeping lion

12/17/2015

Published by frits bakker

Dani Sánchez in his match with the 'sleeping lion' Semih Sayginer

HURGHADA - Can the year get even better for the Turks, who have two World Cup winners (Tasdemir and Coklu) already? Their current nr. 1 player, Lütfi Cenet, would like that a lot, and he placed himself in the spotlights on the opening day of the Hurghada tournament. The highlight of the day came out of his cue: a 40-19 win over Korean Jae Ho Cho in only ten innings (4.000 average). The first few innings of the match were not even very productive. But then Cenet unleashed an avalanche of points strung together, first a run of sixteen, then a magnificent closing run of fifteen. His world class opponent could only sit and watch, until he contributed a run of eight for himself in the equalizer.

The top players were confronted with tough opposition from the get-go. World Cup leader Dani Sánchez for instance, had drawn Semih Sayginer. I was not happy with that draw'', said the Spaniard. ,,He is like a sleeping lion, and he could start to roar at any time.'' It didn't happen in this match, between two guys who respect each other and are friends off the table. Dani Sánchez won easily, after it had been even for about fifteen innings (28-24), but the Spaniard was much more productive in the second half: 40-29 in 19.

That match, with its promising line-up, was later overshadowed by the Cenet show, by Choi's master class against Sidhom (40-11 in 12), by Marco Zanetti's first demonstration of his intentions (40 in 14), the brilliant start of Jung Han heo against Adnan Yüksel (40-25 in 14), and the comeback of Javier Palazon, one of the Red Sea's stars last year.

What a difference this first day was, from the opening day of the World Championship in Bordeaux, where the slippery and unpredictable cloth gave all the players headaches. Five of today's sixteen matches ended over 2 average, with Lütfi Cenet, a former finalist in Hurghada (2102) as the best of all. Sung Won Choi in twelve and Marco Zanetti, Jung Han Heo in fourteen innings were not far behind.

Sung-Won Choi it seems, is now free from the pressure of being world champion. The ex-title holder gave Sameh Sidhom a cold shower in round one: 40-11 in 12. At the interval (23-4 in 7) the home crowd had already given up. The Egyptian dentist had lived on cloud nine after the Bordeaux tournament. Unofficial reports say his run of nineteen at that WC is a world record for that event. It needs to be said though, that for many years the WC format was sets to 15.

Dani Sánchez, triple world champion, started his bid for a fourth title against a player (Sayginer) he sees as a legend. ,,Semih will get back to the top, I am convinced. It just needs time. He lacks confidence and match rhythm, but he still exudes class.'' His victory keeps Sánchez in the race for the overall World Cup of 2015. He leads the pack with 208 points, ahead of Dick Jaspers with 202, Torbjörn Blomdahl with 196 and Tayfun Tasdemir on 174. This final World Cup is also crucial to the positions of Frédéric Caudron and Marco Zanetti, who can't afford early elimination in Hurghada because it could cost them their top-12 place.

The Italian, who defends his 80 points from last year, realizes the importance of the event and had a flying start in his match against Eddy Leppens. He dominated from the first inning and won it 40-25 in 14 innings.

Murat Naci Coklu did what he had done in the final round of qualifications: the Istanbul WC winner beat Nikos Polychronopoulos, this time more emphatically: 40-24 in 21. Torbjörn Blomdahl had a stroll in the park against Mohsen Fouda, a local hero who got as far as 40-24 in 21.

On the first day, the last Vietnamese went out: Quoc Nguyen Nguyen ran into a strong Palazon (40-30 in 17), who is trying to write a new chapter in the book of his career. Tolgahan Kiraz is "hot" and he showed it against Roland Forthomme (40-34 in 25). Dick Jaspers won the battle with his countryman Jean Paul de Bruin 40-36 in 21, which was a lot closer that it first looked. Two Belgians were eliminated, the other two breezed through the first day. Eddy Merckx was much too strong for Murat Tüzül (40-14 in 21), Frédéric Caudron beat Colombian former junior world champion, Jose Juan Garcia, 40-31 in 26.

Friday's matches:

11.00 (Egyptian time):

Torbjörn Blomdahl-Javier Palazón

Jin Pyo Hong-Marco Zanetti

Tolgahan Kiraz-Dani Sánchez

Murat Naci Coklu-Tayfun Tasdemir

13.00:

Dick Jaspers-Lütfi Cenet

Sung-Won Choi-Choong Bok Lee

Frédéric Caudron-Jung Han Heo

Eddy Merckx-Kostas Papakonstantinou