Kisses during the break, snowflakes on the billiard

HURGHADA - A false start in the Hurghada World Cup is not a first, there have been glitches before. Players who did not show up, a malfunctioning internet, power failures, there is always a quick resolution to the problem in the billiard room of the Sunrise garden beach. As it was today, on opening day. The Belgian guest referee Benny van Goethem Sunday had something to write home about. ,,During the match I refereed, small snowflakes descended on the billiard'', he told us. It turned out to be a small problem with the air-conditioning unit. ,,The match was paused for a few minutes, while I softly sang to myself: I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.''

Snowflakes in an Egyptian billiard room, an almost 100 inning match, a kissing German billiard player during the interval of his match, and a Belgian contingent that has provided boisterous ambiance for the past two days in the Egyptian resort at the Red Sea.

The organization was disappointed to receive a few late and prominent cancellations: Korean HaengJik Kim will not play, and neither will his countryman Dong Koong Kang. French players Jérémy Bury and Pierre Soumagne also did not make the trip, as well as three Vietnamese players.

Bernd, Michael and Werner from Berlijn, here as supporters for the third year running, had an adventure. Bernd says: ,,Two hours after we left Berlin, there was a bomb alarm. We had to make an emergency stop in Budapest, then there were ten hours of searches before we could fly again.''

The Austrian Peter Nebuda, father of billiard player Alfred Nebuda, who had so looked forward to his trip, has hobbled around with a crutch and a foot in a cast for two days. An unfortunate fall in the pool resulted in a trip to the hospital. He has fun as a spectator, nevertheless. ,,I am also here for a bit of holiday, to swim in the Red Sea. That is not going to happen now.''

Johann Schirmbrand, who made it all the way into the main tournament two years ago, and lost on a single point to top player Jae Ho Cho, had a fluent start but then surprisingly lost to the young Egyptian Youssef Ossama. The seventeen year old promise from Alexandria, trained by Spanish federation coach Jose Maria Quetglas, played an uninhibited, quick match to beat the seasoned German 30-23 in 27 (1.111). Schirmbrand was lucky, he got back in as best loser.

Thomas Wagner van Regensburg (30 in 28 innings) was one of the best players on day one. Belgian Jean Paul Verplancke and German Phillipp Reck played a marathon match of 94 innings, at the same time. It was a record for Willem Hofman and Freddy Bauwens, the two referees at this table. The young German went to his girlfriend in the stands during the interval, but even her long embrace could not inspire him to make the necessary points. What remained, was a struggle with long series of misses.

Bennie van Goethem: ,,The old record was ours, last year, there was a 92 inning match. But I have to say: I kept doing my job, straight to the end. With 86 innings on the scoreboard, I disallowed a point because of a push stroke.''

The Belgian referee is not just a leader at the table these days. He is also the travel manager for a group of seventeen members of billiard club De Witte Molen from Sint Niklaas. Frieda, who polishes the balls before all the matches, was invited as guest of honor. Four players, their wives and supporters have created a great atmosphere in the hotel lobby for days now.

Bennie van G: ,,We have such a great club, just look at them. De Witte Molen has about 22 playing members, and yet we are here with the largest contingent of all participating countries. And we are going to make a monster of a week out of it. Last year Ronny Brants was also here, he beat Semih Sayginer. That was the highlight, of course. We may not get quite that far this year, but Francis Forton is about to arrive, he is our top player now. And whatever happens, we are going to enjoy it to the fullest.''

Dutchman John van Essen was kept in suspense for days, he was third reserve on the list and only heard he got to play an hour ahead of time. ,,It would have been a nice vacation anyway, but this makes it better'', he smiled.

Belgian Dirk Muylaert, another Sint Niklaas member, could not repeat his stunt of five years ago, when he kicked Jean Paul de Bruijn out of the Hurghada tournament. "I walked out of the bar at 6 AM and ran into Jean-Paul on my way to the room. How did you sleep?, he said. I told him I was about to turn in. At 11 that morning we played our match, and I won. What a sensation that was. I kissed the cue ball, and I am still looking for the pic of that greatest moment in my career.''

Gülsen Degener is out of it after a day, with a draw, a loss and an average of 0.628. ,,I did not especially enjoy it'', she said after her matches in the hotel's annex room. ,,It was so cold there, I shivered while I played.''

The top sixteen on the first day:

1 Poul Bjerring 4-1.200-5
2 Savas Gungor 4-1.052-6
3 Wilco van Wijk 4-0.909-8
4 Frank Sudar 4-0.895-6
5 Thomas Wagner 4-0.810-6
6 Gregory le Deventec 4-0.810-6
7 Michel Sterckval 4-0.810-5
8 Vincent Lelievre 4-0.800-6
9 Youssef Ossama 4-0.800-5
10 Rudi Hendrickx 4-0.722-7
11 Claus Mosskov 4-0.645-5
12 Rafael Perez 4-0.612-5
13 Bassem Gamal 4-0.606-4
14 Kevin Vasseur 4-0.594-4
15 Mohamed Bassiouny 4-0.521-4
16 Philip Coenen 2-0.687-4.

Three German billiard fans made a ten hours stop due to a bomb alarm

Youssef Ossama

The Belgian Dirk Muylaeert

John van Essen from the Netherlands