Who is the best: Jaspers, Coklu, Merckx or Forthomme?

17/10/2015

Publié par frits bakker

Roland Forthomme after he defeated Dani Sánchez

ISTANBUL - Of the four World Cup winners in 2015, only Dick Jaspers is left. Dani Sánchez, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Tayfun Tasdemir are out, Jaspers is in the last four again in the World Cup in Istanbul. And those who watched the Dutchman in the past two days, have seen that he is in an almost unstoppable form. The full focus is back, the precision, the high quality of play. His famous stroke and position play have made Jaspers into a perennial favourite, a player who can win World Cups on any continent and is always amongst the best with his average.

Tomorrow, on the final day of the World Cup in Istanbul, he will not be the crowd favorite because he faces Murat Naci Coklu, the last Turkish contender in the tournament. In the other semi-final the Belgians Roland Forthomme and Eddy Merckx battle it out for a place in the final.

These four players are left at the end of the survival race in the Turkish metropolis, and, surprisingly, four European players are left standing. All the Korean and Vietnamese protagonists are out.

Jae Ho Cho and Quyet Chien Tran were the last warriors on stage, outplayed by Eddy Merckx (40-33 in 22) and Murat Naci Coklu (40-34 in 28). Roland Forthomme snatched the win against Guri's record man Dani Sánchez (40-29 in 20) and Jaspers ended Carlos Crespo's wonderful week (40-26, 17 innings).

The main question is: who will beat this Jaspers on the way to the climax of this tournament. He seems the best man so far with matches in 26, 23 and 17 innings, a high run of fifteen, the conqueror of Frédéric Caudron in the quarters.

The main challenger, obviously, is Eddy Merckx, who did really well against Hwang today (33 innings) and Cho (22) and is - as the player with the richest honor role after Jaspers - the best to withstand the game pressure on such a final day.

His world record, fifty points in six innings, is proof that Merckx is a miracle man at the table. Dick Jaspers however, has Merckx beaten in terms of consistency.

In the recent meetings between the two, the Belgian won in the Guri World Cup 40-27 in 22 and the Dutchman in the Verhoeven Open in New York 40-36 in 17.

Roland Forthomme is the player with the devastating breakaway and the great temperament. His last World Cup win dates back to 2006 (Volos), and a year earlier Forthomme won in Hurghada. He was close to another win last year in Porto, making it to the final against Dick Jaspers.

After his three wins in this World Cup, the Belgian giant knocks on the door of the world's top twelve again. That will undoubtedly give him the confidence to shine on the final day.
Of the last four matches Merckx and Forthomme played against each other, Forthomme won three times, of which the 40-21 in New York was the best.

Murat Naci Coklu will bring the spectators to the stands on the final day, he will have all the support from the home crowd on the day he is closer to World Cup success than ever. His best result so far was the victory at the European championship of 2004, where he was on the stage with Martin Horn, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez.

Coklu has gained much experience playing the European Cup for club teams, which his Bahcelievler team won twice. Tayfun Tasdemir was the captain of that team, Lütfi Cenet second man. Murat Naci Coklu is the man in the spotlights now, in his own Istanbul. He will accept the challenge and hopes to treat the Turkish nation to a glorious day.