3-Cushion
ANTALYA - The highlight of the evening was the maximum run Dani Sánchez made in the deciding fifth set against Jérémy Bury (15-3 in one inning). And there was much more this evening: so many moments to enjoy for the hundreds of spectators in the tournament hall of the Rixos Tekirova hotel. What about the sizzling fight between two Koreans, the great finish of Tayfun Tasdemir in his match against Torbjörn Blomdahl and... of course, the unnatural Frédéric Caudron.
The Belgian signed up for the semifinals in his match against Kyung-Roul Kim with a 3-1 win and an average of 2.545. He seems on his way again, like last year in the Vienna's World Cup, to a formidable tournament average: because in his previous matches Caudron averaged 1.956 against Robinson Morales and 2.571 against Lütfi Cenet.
Dani Sánchez was the man of the evening thanks to his powerful final sprint against Bury. The Frenchman got the show on the road by a 2-1 lead in sets, the Spaniard pulled a rabit out of his head in the second part and beat his opponent 15-2 (5) and 15-3 (1) with an impressive endrush.
Tayfun Tasdemir treated the hundreds of Turkish fans in the audience to what they love to see: in his duel with Torbjörn Blomdahl he was rewarded by some thunderous applauses. He dictated the match to 1-0 and 2-1 in sets (15-9 and 15-14 win). That last set crunched the morale of the Swede: he fought himself back into the match, but stranded was narrowly beaten in the deciding set: 15-13 in six.
Dong Koong Kang entered the fight with Choi Sung-Won as a coldblooded Korean warrior and took a 2-0 lead 15-1 and 15-8. It was the key moment of the moment. His opponent, the winnter of the Agipi Masters last year, had beaten two Dutch in his previous matches, Jean Paul de Bruijn and Dick Jaspers in the final phase. And now again his final shot was outstanding: in the next three sets, he closed the gap and defeated his opponent 3-2: 15-10, 15-4, 15-6.
The matches for the semifinals (on Sunday, 10.00) are:
Siung-Won Choi-Sánchez
Caudron-Tasdemir