3-Cushion
GURI - As the lights in the arena went out, another beautiful day in the Guri World Cup could be reflected on. Semih Sayginer was (again) one of the star performers, HaengJik Kim confirmed his stellar form, Korean Hyun Min Seo recorded a 2.000 average over two matches, and there was also Therese Klompenhouwer. The ladies billiards phenom, multiple Dutch and European champion and the only female player to hold her own amongst the men. Her results today, the penultimate qualifying day? Two wins, both against - always dangerous - Vietnamese players. ,,I feel really good, no jetlag, I'm fit as a fiddle. And the arena is wonderful, the people are friendly.''
Therese is hot, she's on fire if we can take her own words for it. ,,I am not afraid of anybody" she said with bravado after her two consecutive wins. The WC for women, the one title that has eluded her, is only weeks away. Her opposition, mostly from Japan, can consider themselves warned.
,,I just take it as it comes, I want to try and play well, then see how far that takes me', she looked ahead. She does not give herself sufficient credit with that, because for Europe's best player there will be only one goal on that WC, where she shares a flight with the strong Japanese Yuko Nishimoto, Belgian Jaimie Buelens and Jeannette Jensen from Denmark.
Tomorrow (Thursday) there is another opportunity to increase her confidence. Turk Savas Bulut and Japanese O Takeshima are her next opponents in the Guri World Cup. ,,I have no illusions'', says Therese, who is yet to qualify for the main draw in any World Cup. ,,But in this sport, you should never say never.''
Two fairly easy wins today, against Minh Cam Ma in 22 innings with closing runs of four and five (30-25) and against Hong Van Luu by 30-24 in 26 innings.
It took her to the 11th place in the list of 12 qualifiers, with Semih Sayginer leading on 4 points and an average of 2.000, followed by Haeng Jik Kim with 1.935, Luis Aveiga with 1.764, Chi Yeon Cho with 1.714 and former junior world champion Jose Juan Garcia with 1.578.
Hyun Min Seo came in as 12th and last, but that was because he played one draw. He had the same average as Sayginer: 2.000, with a high run of 14, which is the highest in Guri so far.
Semih Sayginer eliminated two of his countrymen: Koray Kirman and Birol Uymaz, who came up short against the "new" star player on the tour.
The best known players to miss out on qualification by right, were Kostas Papakonstantinou (who advances anyway, as first reserve), Vinh Ly The, Tolgahan Kiraz and Sergio Jimenez.
The penultimate day of qualifying saw several big names in the arena already. Many of tomorrow's flights will prove to be snake pits.
Flight A:
Semih Sayginer faces his countryman Lütfi Cenet and Vietnamese Xuan Cuong Ma.
Flight B:
Haeng Jik Kim plays Nikos Polychronopoulos and Ahmet Alp.
Flight C:
South American Luis Aveiga, who shone in today's round, will make his bid for the main draw against Quoc Nguyen Nuyen and Choong-Bok Lee.
Flight D:
Tatsuo Arai, Chi Yeon Cho and Murat Naci Coklu.
Flight E:
Jose Juan Garcia faces Turk Murat Tüzül and Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran.
Flight F:
Jean Paul de Bruijn and Jef Philipoom get company from Japanese ex-world champion Ryuuji Umeda.
Flight G:
Ramon Rodriguez, Jin Pio Hong and Dinh Nai Ngo.
Flight H:
Kostas Papakonstantinou got in through the back door, and will now play Javier Palazón and Robinson Morales.
Flight I:
Roland Forthomme, the nr. 2 of the Porto World Cup, will meet Anh Vu Duong and Hyun Suk Kim.
Flight J:
Two Koreans, Yung Bum Hwang and Jae Guen Kim, with Turk Mehmet Goren.
Flight K:
Therese Klompenhouwer, O Takeshima and Savas Bulut.
Flight L:
Sameh Sidhom, Ruen Legazpi and today's shining star Hyun Min Seo.
Colombian former world champion Jose Juan Garcia ended up in top five of the day ranking.
The top twelve finishers of today (matchpoints, average, highest runs):
1 Semih Sayginer 4-2.000-10
2 HaengJik Kim 4-1.935-9
3 Luis Aveiga 4-1.764-7
4 Chi Yeon Cho 4-1.714-5
5 Jose Juan Garcia 4-1.578-6
6 Jef Philipoom 4-1.538-8
7 Jin Pyo Hong 4-1.500-9
8 Robinson Morales 4-1.428-10
9 Hyun-Suk Kim 4-1.363-8
10 Mehmet Goren 4-1.276-5
11 Therese Klompenhouwer 4-1.250-5
12 Hyun Min Seo 4-2.000-14.