3-Cushion
NEW YORK - The Dutchman Dick Jaspers leads the final ranking after six days of competition at the McCreery Champion of Champions in New York. He is the frontrunner for the final rounds. Semih Sayginer, Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx go into the battle for the 150.000 dollar jackpot, today (Saturday). On the final day, it starts off with the cross finals: Dick Jaspers against Eddy Merckx (10.00 American time, 16.00 West Europe), Frédéric Caudron against Semih Sayginer (12.30/18.30 Europe). The final is at 16.30 (22.30 Europe) when the semi-final winners meet each other. The match length is increased to 50 caroms.
At the end of the 66-game marathon, Jaspers was the number one with sixteen match points and 1.920 of average followed by Sayginer, also sixteen points and 1.747, Caudron with fourteen points and 1.901 and Merckx with fourteen points and 1.680. The Italian Marco Zanetti, after a fantastic come-back in the tournament, and the Korean HaengJik Kim, were finally out for the best four with a fifth and sixth place. The two Belgians Caudron and Merckx entered the last day as leaders of the pack, but both were overtaken, after two losses, by Jaspers and Sayginer. Dick Jaspers won his two last matches against Caudron (40-31 in 21) and Merckx (40-28 in 21), Semih Sayginer defeated Caudron (40-26 in 20) and Piedrabuena 40-31 in 25).
The tournament in the three arenas of the McCreery gala has conquered the hearts of Kozoom watchers in the last days wit hits wonderful images, the view at the tables from many angles with the very best cameras, the stylish setting and the quick and great interviews with players. The critical sounds after the start have been silenced. Kurt Ceulemans, interviewer and commentator, said in an interview: ,,All that we meet here, players, setting, images, organization is world class. The McCreery has turned into a fantastic event: never shown before in the global billiard world.''
Dick Jaspers and Semih Sayginer were two star players on top of the ranking on the last day of the regular competition. Frédéric Caudron's qualification was not in danger despite two losses. Eddy Merckx, also with two losses on the last day, had to wait in suspense for the result of the match between HaengJik Kim and Marco Zanetti. The Korean needed a victory within 23 innings to pass Merckx, but lost the game 40-31. Zanetti finished with the same match points as Merckx, but missed the qualification on average: Merckx 1.680, Zanetti 1.526. The Italian deserves all respect: after a start with four losses, he then won seven matches in a row.
HaengJik Kim played the best match of the tournament so far against Raymond Ceulemans: 40-10 in 10 innings with a high run of 13. The Belgian maestro closed the tournament with one victory, but presented himself the true ambassador of world three cushion. The 81-year-old record holder world titles will be rewarded by 15.000 dollars. That is undoubtedly more than the total money he earned with his 21 world titles and 23 European titles in three cushion.
The four front runners, today, compete for the top premiums: 150.000, 95.000, 70.000 and 60.000 dollars. The prizes for the classified players:
5th Marco Zanetti, 45.000 dollar
6th HaengJik Kim, 40.000
7th Sung-Won Choi, 35.000
8th Dani Sánchez, 30.000
9th Pedro Piedrabuena, 26.000
10th Torbjörn Blomdahl, 23.000
11th Hugo Patiño, 19.000
12th Raymond Ceulemans, 15.000.
Dick Jaspers recorded the best general average for the time being: 1.920. The best match was played by HaengJik Kim (4.000 of average), the best run for Eddy Merckx (19). For these three results, there are premiums of 5.000 dollar at the end.
The ranking after the regular competition:
1 Dick Jaspers 16-1.920-16
2 Semih Sayginer 16-1.747-13
3 Frédéric Caudron 14-1.901-18
4 Eddy Merckx 14-1.680-19
5 Marco Zanetti 14-1.526-12
6 HaengJik Kim 12-1.671-13
7 Sung-Won Choi 10-1.759-12
8 Dani Sánchez 10-1.732-12
9 Pedro Piedrabuena 10-1.546-11
10 Torbjorn Blomdahl 8-1.504-14
11 Hugo Patiño 6-1.376-15
12 Raymond Ceulemans 2-1.076-7.
Eddy Merckx escaped in the last matches and plays Dick Jaspers in the cross finals
Raymond Ceulemans, the great ambassador of global three cushion
The chief referee Bilo Salama leading the after party