3-Cushion
VIERSEN - The World championship for national teams in Viersen did not attract full stands on the first days and on its way to the final days, the crowd has to miss the German home team. The new national coach Christian Rudolph could not survive the pre-rounds with Martin Horn and Ronny Lindemann. Three teams finished with four match points in this group, Turks and Colombians were the numbers one and two on average. The other big loser was Greece, which was on track to finish as the group winner, but was eliminated by Vietnam, also on average, ahead of the Netherlands. The first four teams for the quarterfinals are Turkey, Vietnam, the Netherlands and Colombia.
The final sprint of Colombia, with Robinson Morales and Huberney Cataño, was the highlight on the second match day. In the groups C and D, in which the preliminaries are completed, Vietnam stunted in the last match against Greece 40-19 in 17 innings and the Colombians even increased that quick match in an all-or-nothing attempt against Turkey, 40-38 in 16 innings. The two South Americans, who had lost in the first game on one point against Germany, were overjoyed. They finished second behind Turkey and therefore played Germany out of the house before the finals. The home players won their last match against Peru (40-37 in 34), but were far too short in average against the Turks and Colombians.
Thanks to Vietnams final sprint, after losing in the first round against the Netherlands, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Quyet Chien Tran can join the top favourites in the last days. The Asian duo, both in the world's top ten, were impressive in the final match against Greece. Nikos Polychronopoulos and Filippos Kasidokostas were on top with two victories, but were overwhelmed by the Vietnamese, who thereby climbed to the leading position in Group C. The Dutch secured second place after the misstep in the first day round against the Greeks. The orange team were the better of the Danes in a one-way game, 40-19 in 17 innings.
Tomorrow, on Saturday, the Groups A and B face each others in the final group matches for four places in the quarters. South Korea and Belgium, the leaders, are the only two teams in the entire field which are still unbeaten. The Belgians play in their last against Japan, the defending champion, South Korea, closes the pre-rounds against Egypt. The battle is still open, although the Belgians and Koreans are in a very favourable pole position.
The Belgians won the match against France 40-25 in 24 and Japan dealt with Mexico in the same number of innings. The French have to take the last chance with a win over, but depend on Japan, playing its last match against Belgium with a better average than France. South Korea leads in Group A with 4 points ahead of Austria and Egypt with 2 points. Austria plays his last against Lebanon.
The group rankings:
Group A (two games):
1 Korea 2-4-1.230-8
2 Austria 2-2-1.192-7
3 Egypt 2-1.064-7
4 Lebanon 0-0.714-4
Group B (two games):
1 Belgium 2-4-1.538-8
2 Japan 2-1.433-7
3 France 2-2-1.226-8
4 Mexico 0-0.903-6
Group C (three matches)
1 Vietnam 3-4-1.630-8
2 Netherlands 3-4-1.609-9
3 Greece 3-4-1.337-6
4 Denmark 3-0-1.013-5
Group D (three matches):
1 Turkey 3-4-1.661-11
2 Colombia 3-4-1.586-9
3 Germany 3-4-1.174-6
4 Peru 3-0-0.979-5.
The Vietnamese world's top ten team: overjoyed after great final sprint
Lütfi Cenet and Murat Naci Coklu, number one despite loss against Colombia
Frédéric Caudron and Jérémy Bury in a discussion after the match
The Dutch team, one victory, one loss: to the best 8 in the finals
The Koreans, on track for the knock-outs with two wins