Hello, I am mister 39, how are you?

VILA NOVA DE GAIA - The Turkish player Lütfi Cenet, on his way to breakfast at the Holiday Inn hotel in Porto this morning, stepped out of the elevator with a smile and said: ,,Hello, I am mister 39, how are you?''

He was one of four players on Friday in the sixteenth finals of the World championships that were beaten by a carom: a 40-39 score after an exciting final.

Peter Ceulemans wrote on his facebook: ,,Who said that matches to 40 caroms are less exciting?'' The reasoning is wrong: seldom there was so much tension, rarely there was so much excitement.

However, the opinions in this World championship are divided: one is a proponent and likes the new system to 40 caroms with a 40 seconds timeframe. Others don't like it at all.

Marco Zanetti reacted after the match that he won against Dani Sánchez (40-39): ,,This is not good for the quality of the matches and the level of playing.'' Frédéric Caudron is an absolute opponent as well, even he is the player who can dash off these matches in in a fast pace. ,,I prefer the setsysteem, because it is more spectacular for the audience.''

Dani Sánchez is a staunch opponent of the new system as well: ,,It's not good for our sport, even though it will give more tension. My opinion is that the best player must win the world title, but in short matches like now, any player can beat anyone. There are two hundred players in the world that can finish a 40 points match in 20 innings. The quality goes down and you need more luck to win a match or even more a tournament.''

,,I played against Blomdahl at the European championships, we were at 15-15 and I made a run of 15. Then you can say, the match is over. There's no way back. What is the reason for changing the system, I really don't know. The schedule, the planning of the matches? I don't think so. And the long matches? Well I don't think. Look at snooker, matches take two days. And nobody gets bored.''

Regarding the averages, Dani Sánchez seems to be right: only Eddy Merckx played over two average (2.666). Frédéric Caudron and O Takeshima were second on the average list with 1.666.

Choong Bok Lee (40-39 against Tayfun Tasdemir), Sameh Sidhom (40-39 against Kyung-Roul Kim) and Sung-Won Choi (40-39 against Lütfi Cenet) didn't complain after the first knockout stage. And also top ten players like Dick Jaspers and Eddy Merckx reacted more or less positive, when the forty points matches were introduced.

Eddy Merckx: ,,I couldn't be happy when I finished a match in sets, scored more caroms, had a better average, but still had to congratulate my opponent. That's the downside of the setsysteem.''

Dick Jaspers: ,,I remember a World Cup in Mexico City, where I lost the final against Frédéric Caudron. I played 2.060 average, Frédéric 1.700. But he won. That can happen in sets, because in this match, I had won the first set 15-0 in four innings.''

Ludo Dielis, who arrived in Porto yesterday to orient himself for the World championship next year in Antwerp, said: ,,The schedule is much better for the organizer: you can make a time table and assume that forty points matches don't take more than two hours or even less. Matches in sets can take half an hour, but also three hours and more.''

The World championship is the perfect stage to gather the opinions of players. For now it seems that the tension element has been increased. But most of the main players want to return to the old system as quickly as possible.''

The WC started with the first match in the quarterfinal between Marco Zanetti and Murat Naci Coklu, followed by the match between the Koreans Choi and Lee.

The program for today:
13.00: Marco Zanetti-Murat Naci Coklu
15.00: Choong-Bok Lee, Sung-Won Choi
18.00: Eddy Merckx-Sameh Sidhom
20.00: Frédéric Caudron-O Takeshima.