The last fireworks come from Semih Sayginer

07/22/2016

Published by frits bakker

PORTO - The world's elite three cushion players present at the World Cup in Porto can find inspiration in the stylish decor: sponsor names in gold against a black backdrop. No doubt they will perform with equal class in the upcoming three days. A long series of qualification rounds came to an end on Thursday, late in the afternoon and early in the evening, highlighted by some fascinating battles for the last of the fifteen slots in the main draw. Top billing of the day was the match between two of the tour's big names: Semih Sayginer and Sung-Won Choi. The Turk produced the final fireworks, beating the world champion of 2014 (40-37 in 23). His last and winning point was of great beauty: a round-the-table shot with maximum english, played at exactly the right speed.

Today,. friday at 14.00 Portuguese time, after the opening ceremony at 11.00, 32 of the world's best players will start the highly anticipated, fifth Grand Slam event of the year. Can Torbjörn Blomdahl, winner of the last World Cup held in Porto, take first place once again, after a period of relative silence around the reigning world champion? Will Frédéric Caudron, winner of the previous World Cup and just back from a tour of South Korea, again show blistering form? How strong will Dani Sánchez be in front of his loyal fans, and how dangerous an outsider will Eddy Merckx prove to be, as a former winner of the world title on the sacred FC Porto grounds? And isn't Dick Jaspers a title candidate in every event where he shows up?

Then of course, the Koreans may not currently have a winner in their traditional top five, but they can never be ruled out. The Turks may find it hard to focus on billiards, in these hectic weeks for their country. What can we expect from the Vietnamese, who grow closer to the world summit every year? They did lose their crowd pleasing favorite Quoc Nguyen Nguyen in the qualification rounds. He was beaten by Hyung-Kon Kim, a 35-year old new star in the Korean camp. This Kim has no international reputation yet, but is already a top player in his home country. Korea's ranking is led by Haeng Jik Kim, with Hyung-Kon Kim, who lives in Seoul, as the current number four, after victories in two national tournaments and this year's Tokyo Open.

The young Spanish talents Antonio Montes, David Martinez and Juan David Zapata, but also reputed players like Carlos Crespo, Javier Palazón and Jose Maria Mas put their mark on the pre-tournament. Dani Sänchez, who was a regular spectator and supporter, beamed with pride: ,,I am proud because my country shows the next generation has a future.''

The Turks, with Ahmet Alp, Gökhan Salman and Ahmet Bayatli played some high-class matches, but failed at the deciding moments. Tayfun Tasdemir is their only player who was seeded into the main draw. Murat Naci Coklu joined him from the qualifications, and later also Murat Tüzül, who played a formidable match against Hyung Bum Hwang (40-14 in 14 beurten). Hakan Incekara and Lütfi Cenet completed the Turkish delegation. Another highlight of the day came from Jérémy Bury, who trailed Garcia 31-29 but shocked the South-American player when he ran 11 and out.

Hyung Kon Kim was the undisputed leader on the last qualifying day, with an average of 2.666 and wins over Jin Pyo Hong (40-8 in 12) and Quoc Nguyen Nguyen (40-20 in 25).

The most notable casualties on the last day were Ruben Legazpi, Quoc Nguyen Nguyen, Anh Vu Duong, Hyung Bum Hwang and Eddy Leppens. Javier Palazón started with a loss against Eddy Leppens, but recovered well against Korean Choong-Bok Lee (40-31 in 16) to become group winner after all.

Two Koreans (Choong-Bok Lee and Sung-Won Choi) and Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma were added to the list of twelve group winners of the Thursday, as best runner-up.