3-Cushion
HURGHADA - Two players with a reputation met, and it was going to be the "match of the day" in Hurghada. Dustin Jäschke, German Masters champion 2015 and Francis Forton, a seasoned Belgian 3-cushion and 1-cushion player would decide about the group win between them.
Dustin Jäschke (23), from a town called Dinslaken in Nordrhein-Westfalen, took off like a bat out of hell and never let his opponent recover. With runs of six and eight he built up a 30-10 win in only fifteen innings (2.000 average). Francis Forton, the likeable guy from Brussels, could only sit and watch with admiration.
The fair-haired German is now an established name, after his win in Herten in May 2015. That tournament had a surprise final day: Jäschke beat Stefan Galla in the semi (50-39) and Thorsten Frings (who had eliminated Martin Horn, the favorite) in the final by 50-34.
The Masters winner, still shaking, said then: ,,I'll need a few days to realize that I have won.'' And about his early days in billiards: ,,My dad played at a modest level, and I was on a chair with a cue when I was three.''
His ambition has only grown since the greatest win in his young career. Jäschke has a full time job, but he practices all he can to keep progressing. ,,I put in three hours every evening, even after a long day's work.''
The German whirlwind of the second day, who hangs out with Christian Rudolph during this tournament, was not the best player of the day, because his first match took quite a few innings.
Savas Gungor made a fine impression with two victories, 1.500, and a high run of nine. It made him the nr. 1 of the day ranking, ahead of Gregory Le Deventec, Akif Guvenmez and Dustin Jäschke.
The winning streak of young Egyptian Youssef Ossama, a diligent pupil of Spanish federation coach Jose Maria Quetglas, goes on after his two wins on the second day. In front of the Kozoom cameras, he told us how happy he is with his performance in his own country, and how the home front follows every snippet of World Cup news daily. In the first match of the day, young Youssef and his father Atia Ossama found themselves on adjacent tables!
Dane Poul Bjerring survived day two with two wins and 0.857 average, the same as Belgian Rudi Hendrickx, who was never in trouble on the opening days. ,,My only mental problem is, that in every match I play a few stupid points. I always have.''
The 53 year old from Antwerp has been around the block in the billiard world, as he is friends with Eddy Merckx and has travelled all over Europe with him. ,,This is my fifth trip to Hurghada, and I still think it is a wonderful event'', said Hendrickx after his second win of the day, against Turk Levent Okci, whom he beat 30-21 in 34 innings.
German Johan Schirmbrand is Hurghada's lucky bird, after he advanced as lucky loser for the second day in a row. The German scored the high average of the field, so in spite of his loss, he deserves to stay in the tournament.
The top sixteen of day two:
1 Savas Gungor 4-1.500-9
2 Gregory Le Deventec 4-1.276-7
3 Akif Guvenmez 4-1.276-6
4 Dustin Jäschke 4-1.176-8
5 Yavuz Güngördü 4-1.034-5
6 Hakan Adiguzel 4-0.895-5
7 Rudi Hendrickx 4-0.869-7
8 Poul Bjerring 4-0.857-9
9 Frank Sudar 4-0.759-6
10 Thomas Kerl 4-0.731-7
11 Claus Mosskov 4-0.731-5
12 Alfred Nebuda 4-0.73105
13 Youssef Ossama 4-0.618-6
14 Ahmet Emam 4-0.594-5
15 Haluk Kara 3-0.895-7
16 Ahmet Abdallah 2-0.791-5.
Rudi Hendrickx: "I play a few stupid shots every match".
Top referee Antoine Chart is focused on the job
Father and son Atia and Youssef Ossama playing in the same round
Philippe Coenen recovered after a slow start and beat Kim.