3-Cushion
HANAM - Three of sixteen players in the LGU Cup already move up to the last eight after two days of pre-rounds. Jae-Ho Cho is the best on average, five players score over two average after two rounds. The stars are shining in Starfield Shopping in Hanam, a part of Seoul. The three players who are sure for the final rounds are Jae-Ho Cho, Quyet Chien Tran and Myung-Woo Cho. On the third day, the fight is about five places in the final rounds.
Myung-Woo Cho played the best match on the second day with a victory over Marco Zanetti: 40-16 in 18. Two players in Group A advanced with the maximum 4 match points, two players are out, Sung-Won Choi and Wan Young Choi. Eddy Merckx, Dani Sánchez and Semih Sayginer compete in Group B for two places, Dick Jaspers, Tayfun Tasdemir and Jung-Han Heo in Group C and in Group D, Marco Zanetti and HaengJik Kim are in the race for the second place behind Myung-Woo Cho.
The overview of the four groups on the second day:
Group A:
Jae-Ho Cho and Quyet Chien Tran are on top spot and move up to the final eight. Vietnamese Tran, winner of last year's tournament, went full speed at the end of the match against Sung-Won Choi. He fought back from a big deficit and finished with a score of 25 in his last five innings: 10-0-4-2-9. It was the knock-out for Sung-Won Choi, who was beaten 40-35 in 21. Jae-Ho Cho is certainly one of the big contenders: after 40 in 11 in his first, the Korean group leader now defeated Wan Young Choi 40-12 in 19 with a decisive attack around the break: 5-6-11. Jae-Ho Cho still plays against Quyet Chien Tran on the third day, Sung-Won Choi against Wan Young Choi.
The ranking:
1 Jae-Ho Cho 4-2,666-11
2 Quyet Chien Tran 4-2,222-10
3 Sung-Won Choi 0-1,575-8
4 Wan Young Choi 0-1,205-11
Jae-Ho Cho, the best on average of all sixteen
Quyet Chien Tran, the titleholder again in the last eight
Group B:
Three Europeans compete for two places on the third day. Choong-Bok Lee has finished, only Eddy Merckx, targeting the end win, is still unbeaten. Semih Sayginer recovered from the first loss against Dani Sánchez and racked up his first win against Korean Lee 40-19 in 19. After a meek start, Eddy Merckx took distance from Sánchez in the last innings with 19 in his last four (run 10). The battle is still open: Merckx is playing against Sayginer, Sánchez against Lee. Merckx is the best in average, Sánchez and Sayginer are close together.
The ranking:
1 Merckx 4-1,818-10
2 Sánchez 2-1,500-8
3 Sayginer 2-1,476-10
4 Lee 0-1,113-5.
Dani Sánchez, when two giants meet up...
Semih Sayginer, first win, still in the race playing Merckx tomorrow
Group C:
The hopeful start Dick Jaspers made with 4-14-4 and 24-5 after five innings against Bong Chul Kim, was slowing down 9 misses after the break. The victory was not in danger (40-20 in 21), so, the Dutchman was along with Tayfun Tasdemir the leader after two rounds. The two 'three-point-players' are not out of reach for Jung-Han Heo, the Korean who suffered his first loss against Tasdemir. ''I played my opponent to a big margin'', explained Tayfun, ''but he bunched back by a final run of 11: 40-34 in 23. Tasdemir feared another sensational finish after Jaspers' six on the first day. "I was getting ready for a break, but luckily for me, Heo missed by a hair'', said the Turkish maestro, who is playing the LGU Cup for the first time. "You have to get used to the noise and the music in the shop, but now I am focused well, I don't hear anything around me.''' Jaspers, the best in average, plays against Heo on the third day, Tasdemir against Kim, who is out.
The standings:
1 Jaspers 3-2,285-14
2 Tasdemir 3-2,162-8
3 Heo 2-1,681-11
4 BC Kim 0-1,000-4.
Dick Jaspers, topping his group with Tayfun Tasdemir
Dick Jaspers,
Tayfun Tasdemir: suffering some shoulder pain under stress, but well focussed and great on average
Group D:
On the last day of the pre-rounds, Myung Woo Cho can play freely. The battle is between Marco Zanetti and HaengJik Kim for the second place in the last eight. Torbjörn Blomdahl is eliminated with two losses. HaengJik had a much better finish than the Swede, who led 31-25, missed nine times after the break: allowing HaengJik Kim to finish with 13 in his last four innings against only 1 for Blomdahl. Myung-Woo Cho towered above Marco Zanetti: the little Korean started with 11 and 7 in his first innings, ran away to 23-4 and faced a powerless Zanetti: 40-16 in 18. Cho plays Blomdahl in his final round , Zanetti to Kim.
The standings:
1 Cho 4-2,352-11
2 Zanetti 2-1,696-14
3 Kim 2-1,690-8
4 Blomdahl 0-1,192-8
Myung-Woo Cho, a bridge to far for Zanetti
Torbjörn Blomdahl is out after two losses