Vietnamese Ma plays the best match of his life against Caudron

LA BAULE - The best news of the day came from the president himself. The World Cup schedule for next year is already promising and Farouk Barki was very optimistic in his opening speech at the World Cup in La Baule about the next cycle in 2017. ,,I hope we can return to La Baule next year'', he said. Then the calendar would again be optimally filled with seven World Cups. The main sporting news came from the table of the 39-year-old Vietnamese Xuan Cuong Ma, who played the best match of his life and defeated Frédéric Caudron 40-19 in 11 innings. That was the first sensation on the opening day in La Baule. Then, in the next session, Marco Zanetti stopped the triumph march of Jérémy Bury in a bump that was very exciting until the last caroms.

The modest Vietnamese Xuan Cuong Ma, who lives in the capital Ho Chi Minh city, was highly astonished himself after his performance against Frédéric Caudron, whom he also beat in the World Cup in Suwon, where he finished third five years ago. ,,But really, I never played a match like this before in my life'', he reacted in the stands, where some countryman tried to convert his emotions into words. The match ran in his favour from the first caroms, including a run of nine after which Ma led 21-2 in six innings at the break. Caudron continued after the break with eight, but immediately Ma responded with ten, which was decisive for the match.

Zanetti was searching for a comforting word after his victory over Jérémy Bury. ,,All good stories come to an end'', said the Italian. The two teammates from the golden Agipi foursome were in balance, with varying odds for a long time after Bury's strong opening with 10 from the break. The last shot came from Zanetti, who made his winning point under the eyes of a beautiful sympathetic audience (40-35 in 24). That meant for Jérémy Bury the end of a series of victories that brought him back into the top twelve.

Jérémy Bury in full concentration

Dick Jaspers defeated Sung-Won Choi with a great last shot

Marco Zanetti, thinking about the position in his match against Jérémy Bury

The Vietnamese Xuan Cuong Ma shakes hands with Frédéric Caudron after his sensational win

The brilliant technician Tayfun Tasdemir is looking towards the top twelve in the ranking again after beating Eddy Merckx in a nice, tactical match. Javier Teran was the winner of the shoot-out against Sameh Sidhom, Jérôme Barbeillon captured the hearts of the French crowd, Pedro Piedrabuena was at his best against Lütfi Cenet and Dick Jaspers finished his match against Sung-Won Choi, the world champion two years ago, with an incredibly beautiful time shot.

Tasdemir wiped the sweat from his forehead and pointed to his heart after his last carom against Eddy Merckx. He explained that the tension was high in the closing innings. ,,I have lost so many matches by one or two caroms in this last year. That's why I lost my ranking and dropped out of the top twelve.''

After the victory over Merckx (40-30 in 17) he seems to be on his way back. ,,My mind has not been so good for some time, but it's not yet the time to explain that. My game is good, that's important. I played a strong last race in the qualifications and now I could maintain my position playing until the end. That's my my game, I can't do it another way.''

Tayfun Tasdemir, when the tension was on against Eddy Merckx

Myung Woo Cho, gloriously emerged from the preliminaries, continues his progression from the World Cup in Guri. The victory over another Korean, Dong Koong Kang, last year's finalist at the World championship, will make an impression in the home country. The young promise had a predominance in the whole match (13-6, 22-10, 27-14) and triumphed 40-32 in 21 innings.

Dani Sánchez and Myung Woo Cho celebrate the win together

Jérôme Barbeillon won a tournament in France last weekend in a shoot-out finish against Jérémy Bury. The French number two defeated the Korean Chi Yeon Cho 40-36 in 25.

Jérôme Barbeillon stole the heart of the home crowd

Pedro Piedrabuena showed his excellent form

Torbjörn Blomdahl took advantage in his match against Quoc Nguyen Nguyen with runs of 9 and 7 in the eighth and ninth inning (26-14). The Vietnamese, who missed the opening of the tournament when he lay sick in his bed, made a tormented impression and could not keep up with the world champion: 40-18 in 17 innings.

Torbjörn Blomdahl in his walk-over match against Nguyen Nguyen

Four of the six Turks were outplayed in the first round, only Tayfun Tasdemir and Murat Naci Coklu will come back tomorrow. The Koreans stay in the tournament with four: Jae Ho Cho, Myung Woo Cho, Jung Han Heo and Choong Bok Lee. Xuan Cuong Ma was the star of the day with his victory in eleven innings.

The other strong winners on the first day:
Javier Teran finishes with a draw against Sameh Sidhom and wins the shoot-out 5-2.
Murat Naci Coklu defeats Haeng Jik Kim 40-32 in 19 innings.
Pedro Piedrabuena shows his high class against Lütfi Cenet: 40-22 in 21.
Jung Han Heo wins against Birol Uymaz by a big margin: 40-21 in 20.
Jae Ho Cho deals with Ngo Dinh Nai: 40-36 in 19.
Roland Forthomme outplays Hakan Incekara, the best player in the qualification, 40-19 in 20.
Nikos Polychronopoulos leaves the Japanese Hideaki Kobayashi behind (40-29 in 24).
Choong Bok Lee beats Cap Capak in 20 innings (40-31).
Jung Han Heo is the better of Birol Uymaz 40-21 in 20.

The matches for the next round (starting on Saturday at 11.00):

Ma-Barbeillon
Coklu-Teran
Jae Ho Cho-Zanetti
Piedrabuena-Jaspers
Tasdemir-Forthomme
Sánchez-Myung Woo Cho
Polychronopoulos-Heo
Lee-Blomdahl.