3-Cushion
CALI - Three big names and world class players in three cushion and one dark horse are in the semifinals of the World Games. 23-year-old Dutchman Glenn Hoffman was the absolute sensation in the billiard room in Cali, where hundreds of spectators watched the matches.
Glenn Hofman, who was third in the European championship this year, defeated his famous compatriot Dick Jaspers in the quarterfinals 40-34 in 20 innings.
The tournament therefore lost its title holder and one of the big favorites: Dick Jaspers won the gold medal four years ago in Taiwan in a final against Torbjörn Blomdahl, in the previous two tournaments the Dutchman lost to double winner Dani Sánchez.
Eddy Merckx qualified as fourth player for the semifinal last night with a victory over the Egyptian Sameh Sidhom: 40-27 in 24 innings.
Glenn Hoffman showed in the battle with Dick Jaspers his brilliance and brutality to the world and the spectators in the billiard room. The young man from The Hague, who recorded his first successes with two junior European titles, defeated in an exciting fight his illustrious compatriot, the triple world champion Dick Jaspers.
The Dutch fight grew to a very high level after Hofman’s lightning start: the young man was leading 24-8 in eight thanks to small runs in the first innings: 3, 5, 6 and 6.
Jaspers fought himself back after the break with a blistering run of sixteen, came to 24-24, but was painful trumped by his opponent in the final stage. Hofman nailed the exhausted his opponent on his chair, when Jaspers missed four times in his last five innings. Hofman closed with runs of two and one and showed his joy to the audience: 40-34 (2.000/1.700).
The victory of Glenn Hoffman was the sensation in the quarterfinals. The Dutchman is living in a dream world since the opening ceremony of the tournament. He said in the early days: ,,It's so wonderful to gain experience here, to be witness of this spectacle.’’
And when he started against the Japanese O Takeshima, Hofman said: ,,I hope to survive one match at least, to enjoy another day in the tournament.’’
Today (Monday) his dream continues in the semifinals, in which he enters the arena together with three world class players: world champion Eddy Merckx, season’s very best Marco Zanetti and Korean giant Kyung-Roul Kim.
Eddy Merckx didn’t get much opposition from Sameh Sidhom in the last quarterfinal of the day. The Belgian led with runs of 3, 5, 3, 6 and 4 after ten innings 25-9. Then he routinely finished the job and beat his young Egyptian opponent 40-27 in 24 (1.666/1.125).
Glenn Hoffman plays in the semifinal against Eddy Merckx (13.30). Marco Zanetti meets Kyung Roul Kim in the first session (11.00).
The World Games are a big success so far for all athletes, especially for the billiard players. Glenn Hoffman said yesterday: ,,We're playing our matches for a full house in a fantastic atmosphere.''
The Italians are on top in the medal table with ten gold medals, eleven silver and 11 bronze, a total of 32 medals.
The medal ranks (gold, silver, bronze, total):
1 Italy 10-11-11-32
2 France 10-4-7-21
3 Germany 9-4-4-17
4 Russia 7-9-6-22
5 Japan 5-0-3-8.