Top favourites show high class at the start in Viersen

02/22/2018

Published by frits bakker

The Turkish team with Tayfun Tasdemir and Semih Sayginer, the German team with Martin Horn and Ronny Lindemann

VIERSEN - The Koreans had a flying start, the Dutch, Germans and danes also got out of the blocks wel, but there will be three hard fought days left in the World Championship for national teams. The record winners are absent: Sweden (Blomdahl/Nilsson) won the event nine times but they were not selected to be amongst the 16 countries in Viersen. The country ranking has Belgium in first place, and they are one of the favorites, as are the Netherlands, Korea, Turkey and Germany. The Korean title holders had the best start on the first day. With Sung Won Choi and Dong Koong Kang, they have two formidable players that can give Europe a run for the money. The host country Germany started with a walkover against Colombia, whereas the Belgians (Caudron/Philipoom) had their first appearance against Lebanon. Netherlands (Jaspers/de Bruijn) had a strong finish, and the Turks (Sayginer / Tasdemir) won but were not in fifth gear yet.

They found that extra gear in their second match, already a decider for the group win, against Germany. It turned into a masterful win: Tasdemir and Sayginer quickly established a 12-2 and 20-7 lead, to win 40-20 in 20. It guarantees them a place in the last 8. Germany now needs to beat Ramon Rodriguez's Peru to qualify. Semih Sayginer had a good story after the Germany match. ,,We took a picture, the German players and Tayfun and myself. I looked at Tayfun and thought: We played here in 2003 and 2004 together, won the title in 2004. On the pictures that were taken then, you can see us with black hair."'

After UMB president Farouk Barki's speech, the first matches were played in front of a remarkably youthful crowd. It's a tradition in the "Festhalle", the opening day has a parade of young musicians and singing school kids, welcoming the players to the arena. The field has been reduced from 24 to 16 countries, which resulted in the absence of countries like Sweden (Blomdahl) and Spain (Sánchez), Italy (Zanetti) is also absent.

The most recent succes duo's have been split up: the Belgians won four times in a row in Viersen (Caudron/Merckx), and Jaspers was partnered by Jean van Erp when the Netherlands won two years ago. Other top countries that could go far in this championship are the Koreans, the Germans and the Turks. The title holders, now represented by Choi and Kang, made runs of 9 and 10 to defeat that other Asian superpower: Vietnam, 40-21 in 16. Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Quyet Chien Tran were too unproductive in the early innings and could never catch up. The Germans were even more dominant against the Colombians. The match was a formality before it was even halfway, and it ended 40-10 in 26.

The other teams from South America could not do much better than Colombia. Peru lost to Turkey (40-24 in 36), Ecuador to the Netherlands (40-21 in 23). The long trip was not an excuse, said Javier Teran, who forms an experienced team with Luiz Aveiga. ,,The Dutch were much better, mostly because Dick jaspers missed nothing.'' Jaspers, who has played with various teammates in the past years, and has shown tremendous form in the past months and weeks, commented: ,,It's important to keep your concentration in this format, but on the other hand, you can make a helping comment from time to time.'' Jean Paul de Bruijn: ,,We've known each other for almost 40 years now, there are few secrets left.''

Frédéric Caudron, having lost quite a few pounds, and Jef Philipoom found Lebanon to be tougher than expected. From 22-20 the Belgian won 40-31 in 35. Jef Philipoom had some advice for the cleaning crew: ,,The balls aren't clean, that caused us some problems. They have polishing machines, so they should use them.''

In the last round of the four flights, France (Barbeillon/Melnytschenko) were chased by the Japanese, but they brought the match home: 40-34 in 32. The Danes (Carlsen / Andersen) had a great start with a win over Greece, and the young Egyptians (Sidhom/Abdin) edged Austria with a closing run of six: 40-38 in 36.