3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - The clock was ticking just after ten o'clock, actually not an hour for many players to play billiards at the highest level. The early birds in the stands were watching four world class players. They were rewarded by two matches in a fascinating session.
Showtime in Agipi with Kyung-Roul Kim, with Dani Sánchez and despite their losses in this round with Jae Ho Cho and Nikos Polychronopoulos.
Just look at the scores:
Kyung-Roul Kim wins the match vs. Nikos Polychronopoulos 50-28 in 15 innings (3.333 for the winner, 1.867 for the loser).
Dani Sánchez defeats Jae Ho Cho, wo beat Kim on the first day. The Spaniard wins 50-39 with an uphill finish: 2.500 for the winner, 1.950 for the loser.
We can say that Group A previously was considered to be the best with Torbjörn Blomdahl, Marco Zanetti, Filippos Kasidokostas, Tayfun Tasdemir and Jean Christophe Roux.
That seems to be misconception, after two rounds: Group B is at least from the same level are even higher with five players playing a general average of 2.119 after two rounds. That's better than Group A, in which they played 1.984 over two rounds.
Marco Zanetti is individually the best so far in two matches with 2.439.
Dani Sánchez (2.500 after one match), Kyung Roul Kim (2.353), Jae Ho Cho (2.282), Tayfun Tasdemir (2.273) and even Filippos Kasidokostas (2.022, two defeats) confirm the reputation of the Agipi Masters. Sanchez concluded after his first performance: ,,We, top players, feel good to play matches to 50 points. The level is nowhere that high as here in Agipi.''
Torbjörn Blomdahl, the tournament's winner of last year: ,,I won my first match, but with my average I am half a point behind the top players from the first day.'' That's significant for the formidable start.
Kyung-Roul Kim needed a victory this morning, after his loss on the first day against Jae Ho Cho, to keep his chances for the final round. It was really impressive how he recovered: the Korean champion looked sharp and concentrated for fifteen innings, he missed only three times and excelled with little runs near the end: 5, 8, 6, 7 and 6, making 32 caroms in five innings .
Dani Sánchez and Jae Ho Cho both came very strong out of the blocks with 20-19 in 7 innings, Cho leading 34-28 in 12 innings. That was the moment for Dani Sánchez' breakaway, which brought him to 48-35 and just before the finish only one more miss in a run of seven.