3-Cushion
SUWON – The free fall by Dick Jaspers, the jump by new world champion Eddy Merckx to the top 5, and Torbjörn Blomdahl’s poor WC miraculously rewarded with a second place, those were the most important mutations on the ranking list between two important tournaments: the world championship in Porto and the World Cup in Suwon, Korea.
The new ranking list does not affect this World Cup in Korea, so it is jus tan interim list. But a number of players in- or just outside of the top 10 is warned: many positions are under pressure in this World Cup. Especially from 10th to 12th place: Martin Horn is now 10th with 246 pts and after Suwon, he loses the points he won in Matosinhos 2010. He was losing finalist there to Caudron, which gave him 54 points.
Without those points, and a poor score in Suwon, the German will drop out of the top 10. In Porto, he said: ,,I will fight for it, but if I drop out of the top 12, that’s the end of my World Cup participation. I will then focus on my league matches in Belgium, Germany, Holland and Austria.''
Martin Horn spend a few days in Porto after he had been eliminated, and confessed: ,,I am no big fan of these tournaments, when I am no longer in it, I would much rather be home. There I can practice, I can teach. I will of course try to play well enough to stay in the top 12, but if I don’t make it, it’s over. I will look towards the Agipi tournament where I played really well this year, and to the leagues. I love playing in a team, and facing strong opponents.''
The German is not the only one hanging by a thread in the ranking. Marco Zanetti played an excellent tournament in Porto, where he defeated Dani Sanchez in a nailbiter, and was himself eliminated by Sung-Won Choi one round later
The Italian had to say goodbye to the 81 pts he earned for his place in the final of the WC in Lima last year. He is now 14th on the list with 209 pts, and will lose another 26 in Suwon. For Zanetti too, a good performance in Suwon is mandatory.
Torbjörn Blomdahl made a bizarre leap in Porto: he lost in the flight stage against the modest Portugese Manuel Santos Oliveira and came in 3d behind Heriberto Aristazabal and Oliveira. Nevertheless, the Swede passed Dick Jaspers on the list and is now 2nd behind the untouchable Frédéric Caudron.
Kyung-Roul Kim and Eddy Merckx share 3d place with 318 points, before Filippos Kasidokostas with 312 and Dani Sánchez with 306. Two Koreans, Kyung-Roul Kim and Sung-Won Choi, are also in the top-12. Jae Ho Cho did not do so well in Porto, and he is now 13th.