3-Cushion
LUXOR - The quick and powerful attack is a deadly weapon in the World Cup in Luxor. The tournament has reached the ultimate day with Dick Jaspers, Myung Woo-Cho, Dani Sánchez and Tayfun Tasdemir as the finalists and was characterized in the first two days by the brilliant starts of the protagonists. Dani Sánchez, Tayfun Tasdemir, Dick Jaspers, Marco Zanetti, Quyet Chien Tran and Haeng-Jik Kim outclassed their opponents with a quick knock-out. Sánchez' 35-1 against Nady, Tasdemir's 40-3 against Leppens and Jaspers' 29-4 against Kim were the most extreme scores over two days.
Three big names and one cheerful, always laughing young man with a great future ahead of him, survived the battle and play for the main prizes on Saturday. The 19-year-Myung Woo Cho, the reigning junior world champion, is the sensation in that field with chastened players. Whatever he will do against Jaspers, tomorrow, he storms into the top twenty in the ranking after this World Cup.
The Korean 'miracle man' has continued his development rapidly after the World Cup in Guri last year (third place) and his junior world title in El Gouna.. His training rhythm is still amazing in circles of the top players. ,,Ten hours per day...? Dick Jaspers showed his disbelief: ,,Two, three hours is more than enough for me, I never practice more than that. But when it's really true what the Korean says, I have a big respect.''
Myung-Woo Cho, who first bested Eddy Merckx and Quyet Chien Tran and then outplayed Semih Sayginer in the quarterfinals (40-34 in 16) has no secrets: ,,I moved to Seoul for my study on the university. And now on Wednesday and Thursday there is only time to train four to five hours. Furthermore, always eight to ten hours per day.'' And, he adds with his twinkling eyes: ,,I also find some time for my girlfriend Ji-Yun Yang.''
All is new for the little man in the World Cups. Myung-Woo Cho had never played Merckx and against Sayginer only two years ago in a preliminary round game, but he has no fear at all. Tomorrow, against Jaspers? A new challenge on his way to the top again. The status of the last and best Korean in this World Cup only fills him with disbelief and joy.
On the penultimate day, the spectators in the Sonesta St. George hotel were spoiled by short matches and high runs. Tayfun Tasdemir overwhelmed Eddy Leppens with a rarely seen score in World Cups: 40-3 in 10 innings. The attack after the warm up in two innings, with 30 points in five innings, put the Belgian in an unusually apathetic role.
Dick Jaspers went smoothly along Sung-Won Choi, who seems to be in the form when he took the world title, but despite a comfortable lead (20-10) had to bow to Jaspers. The Dutchman pulled the trigger with 10, 5 and 4 in the final stage.
Haeng-Jik Kim was superior in his match with Jae Guen Kim (40-25 in 23), but then ran into an awesome Jaspers (40-11 in 19). Myung Woo Cho made the gap with Sayginer when he scored an early 12, after he bested the Vietnamese Tran by a final run of 8 (40-38 in 23).
Dani Sánchez finished in fifteen innings in his match with Murat Naci Coklu (40-29 in 15), Nikos Polychronopoulos dominated the match against Jung-Han Heo (40-14 in 20) and Marco Zanetti shone against his former Agipi teammate Jérémy Bury 40 -26 in 16.
For the two other places in the semi-finals, joining Dick Jaspers and Myung-Woo Cho, four of the best Europeans came in the arena. Tayfun Tasdemir continued his way back to the top against Marco Zanetti, who was struggling with a painful back and couldn't match with the Turk: 40-19 in 16.
Dani Sánchez and Nikos Polychronopoulos closed the session with an exciting fight. The Greek ran to a 20-12 lead with a 12-run, Sánchez first came back to 20-20 and then attacked with a ten to 30-20. The match was in balance for a while until 34-33 (in 17), but was decided by the Spaniard with a short rush: 40-35 in 19.
The semi-finals on Saturday:
11.00: Dick Jasper -Myung Woo Cho
13:00 Dani Sanchez-Tayfun Tasdemir
Myung Woo Cho, the junior world champion, shining among the big stars in Luxor
Dick Jaspers still in the race for the title after his win over Sung-Won Choi