3-Cushion
LUXOR - He pointed to his heart, still feeling the tension of the match and asked for a minute to recuperate after a wonderful performance. Dani Sánchez had just beaten the player he admires as one of the most stylish in the world: Tayfun Tasdemir. The diminutive Spaniard won a fight that had constantly scaled the heights and ended with a bang: Sanchez won it 40-38. Minutes earlier, the young Korean Hyung Bum Hwang had eliminated Caudron (40-34 in 26), Dick Jaspers had beaten Murat Naci Coklu without ever having been in trouble (40-14 in 18) and the last match, between Eddy Merckx and Lütfi Cenet, was on its way to a logical ending, the Belgian top player in the lead 39-28.
But in this World Cup, where sensations and glorious matches are abundant, another miracle was in the making. Lütfi Cenet came to the table after a crucial Merckx mistake, and never stopped scoring until he had ran twelve, serving up a bitter disappointment for the twice world champion: 40-39 in 35 innings.
The ranking is more important than ever, now with the new bonus system. There may be some changes in the top 12, after the early exits of Caudron, Merckx, Zanetti, Cho, Tasdemir and Kang. Dani Sánchez realized the implications, right after his match with Tasdemir: ,,It was very important to win this one. I now climb into the top 6, Tasdemir will drop a bit.''
The match between the two was a thing of beauty, in the billiard room of the Sonesta hotel. Sánchez ran away in the second inning with a nine, Tasdemir replying with a nine of his own and a ten a few innings later to a 33-30 score. Chances went hither and yon, averages always between 2.500 and 3.000. We had not yet seen a level this high by both players in a match. Dani: ,,Tayfun played great, he may never have been world champion, but I still consider him to be one of the very best in the world.''
The Spaniard once again showe his lion heart at the end, like he had against Kasidokostas a day earlier, when he finished from 38-38 under brutal tension. History repeated itself: again the score board said 38-38 and again Sanchez was the man with icewater in his veins (40-38 in 17, averages 2.353/2.235).
The young upcoming start Hyung Bum Hwang defeated Caudron.
Hyung Bum Hwang, one of the rising stars almost simultaneously pulled the trigger against Caudron, in a match where he had lead from start to finish (15-5, 22-11, 28-21), finishing at 40-32. Caudron added two points in the equalizer, but that was it. Dick Jaspers had a poor start on day one, but took it up a notch against Murat Coklu. ,,I had a better grip on the balls, that were treated with silicone and behaved unpredictable sometimes. But today I felt I knew what to do.''
The quarter final matches:
16.00 uur:
Sung-Won Choi-HaengJik Kim
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Roland Forthomme
18.00 uur:
Dick Jaspers-Hyung Bum Hwang
Dani Sánchez-Lütfi Cenet.
Lütfi Cenet bested Eddy Merckx to the line with a 12-run.