3-Cushion
BLANKENBERGE - On the first day of the World Cup in Blankenberge, Peter De Backer, one of the homeland players, was the best of all in the first qualification session. He led the rankings ahead of three Koreans, Jun-Tae Kim, Jungsub Kim and Dong-Hoon Kim. The opening day at the third 2019 World Cup was the start of the seven-day event, the main tournament starts on Friday. With seven players, the Belgians were the best represented as first group winners, while the Netherlands had four players for the next round.
Peter De Backer finished his matches over 30 points in 14 and 20 innings. The German Jurgen Pickler had no chance at all: 30-6 in 14, Bart Ceulemans also was left far behind in the score: 30-9 in 20. ''I have nice memories in Blankenberge, that's why I like to play here'', said De Backer after the first day. The Belgian, a master in many disciplines of billiards, referred to the Belgian championships, in which he achieved successes in various disciplines. Peter De Backer will play three World Cups this year: now in Blankenberge, later this year in the Netherlands (Veghel) and in Egypt (Hurghada). "The last is most of all a vacation, one of my favorite World Cups."
The first day also showed an excellent Dutchman Huub Wilkowski with the maximum four match points and 1.304 on average. The other Belgians who qualified were Davy van Havere, Marco Janssen, Eddy Willems, Wesley de Jaeger, Philip Coenen and player/organizer Leslie Menheer. The four Dutch players are Huub Wilkowski, Volkan Cetin, Anjo Krijnen and Dave Christiani, who went to the second tournament day despite one loss as a 16th player with 1,486 and a run of 11.
Two Dutchmen canceled this World Cup last night and will not play: Jean Paul de Bruijn and Glenn Hofman.
The first day ranking:
1 Peter De Backer 4-1.764-7
2 Jun-Tae Kim 4-1.714-5
3 Jungsub Kim 4-1.666-7
4 Dong-Hoon Kim 4-1.304-11
5 Huub Wilkowski 4-1.304-5
6 Davy van Havere 4-1.153-6
7 Marco Janssen 4-1.016-5
8 Valentin Andaluz 4-0.909-7
9 Eddy Willems 4-0.882-8
10 Volkan Cetin 4-0.869-5
11 Anjo Krijnen 4-0.697-5
12 Murat Gökman 3-1.395-8
13 Wesley de Jaeger 3-0.923-7
14 Philip Coenen 3-0.789-6
15 Leslie Menheer 3-0.740-5
16 Dave Christiani 2-1.486-11