3-Cushion
BLANKENBERGE - The victory at the World Cup in Blankenberge, the first in his career, brought the emotions to Javier Palazón's face. The 31-year-old Spaniard from Valencia, normally a stoical player, defeated Martin Horn in the final 40-26 in 23 innings this Sunday in the imposing arena of the casino with around 400 spectators. The spotlights were on the player from the new PBA circuit. "What a wonderful year is this," Palazón stammered in his first reaction afterwards. ''My wife Veronica is expecting our first child in August, a boy. I win this World Cup, the most wonderful day in my billiard career. And from this year on, I will try to make billiards my profession."
That is the ambition that the triple junior world champion has always lived up to, but which he has not yet been able to realize. Palazón was two times on the podium of a World Cup, now he finally received the trophy and 16,000-euro for the winner on the highest podium, accompanied by Martin Horn, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Jung-Han Heo.
The German Horn, who won a World Cup in La Baule last year after his come-back, entered the final as the big contender after a great run-up stage, but the fire was gone in the match that should have been the climax. ''It was like being tired and unable to fight. But the deserved winner is here, there is no doubt about it. He had a better start and then stopped me with a strong and defensive strategy."
Javier Palazón, who has the style of a snooker player at the billiard with his chin deep on his cue, is looking forward to his future as a sportsman. His private life is facing some exciting weeks and as a billiard player, this World Cup is a new start to his career. The road to this success was not even that glorious in Blankenberge, because Palazón lost in the last qualification to Peter De Backer and reached the main draw as the best runner-up. There, he remained unbeaten in the first phase with victories over Jae-Ho Cho, Roland Forthomme, Dinh Nai Ngo, Lütfi Cenet, Sung-Won Choi, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Martin Horn .
Martin Horn defeated Ronny Lindemann, Do Nguyen, Sameh Sidhom, Semih Sayginer, Myung Woo Cho, Murat Naci Coklu, Marco Zanetti and Jung-Heo, before losing in the final against Javier Palazón.
Semi-finals
Blomdahl-Palazón 38-40 (25)
The Swede seems on his way to a walk-over when he leads 21-7 in 8 after runs of 5 and 9 right before the break. The match turns completely upside down in the second part. The Spaniard comes into his rhythm and takes the initiative with flashy attacks. Blomdahl misses two bank shots in a row and Raymond Ceulemans, in the box with Ludo Dielis, comments: "I can see when he moves before the shot, that the tension makes him a bit insecure and that he loses his stroke."
That impression is confirmed a little later when the Swede loses control over the match with six misses in a row. Javier Palazón takes full profits, first with two runs of seven and in the final part when he takes the lead at 33-33 with a run of five. The final attack is again for the Spanish killer with his final sprint from 38-38. Javier Palazón stands out in the match for his sudden, hard shots, of which Raymond Ceulemans says: "That's amazing: when I would hit so hard, my ball would miss for one meter." Palazón replies about that quality: "I sometimes feel the position and then I have to strike vigorously and hard."
Horn-Heo 40-39 in 20
The quick and convincing start is Martin Horn's strongest weapon in this tournament. That's how he deals among others with Murat Naci Coklu, Sameh Sidhom and in this semi-final with Jung-Han Heo. Just before the break, his 7 and 8 runs make it pretty comfortable for the German at 20-7 in six innings. The Korean's opposition is not broken, because Heo is back in town with a run of ten in the tenth inning: 22-19.
Three innings later, the two players are in balance at 24-24. The battle can start again. Horn attacks with four and six, Heo with 7 and with two 3-runs in the last innings to 38-37 in 19. Then it comes down to the verdict, one inning later, when Martin Horn first reaches the finish at 40-37. Jung-Han Heo has to score three times for a draw. He makes the break shot, makes his second, but misses his last one, a breakshot over five rails. Heo later explains: ''I considered to play with my left hand, but I had too little time to decide. When I was still in doubt, I saw that I was running out of time and had to make the shot.''
Frédéric Caudron entertained the audience in this World Cup with the most spectacular moments. The Belgian once finished with 12 in the equalizer against Semih Sayginer and then won the shoot-out. In the next round, Caudron had to score 14 times from the spots against Jung-Han Heo in the equalizer and he stopped after 10.
Peter De Backer and Chang Hoon Seo survived the preliminary rounds from the first days and were the revelations of this World Cup. Dick Jaspers had the best average with 2.323 and played the best match, 40 in 10 innings. Quyet Chien Tran, eliminated on the first day of the main tournament, recorded the best run, 18.
The final ranking at the World Cup in Blankenberge (average, series):
1 Javier Palazón 1.666 -12
2 Martin Horn 1.954 -15
3 Jung-Han Heo 2.090
3 Torbjörn Blomdahl 1.580 -13
5 Frédéric Caudron 2.153 -12
6 Marco Zanetti 1.689 -11
7 Sung-Won Choi 1.689 -11
8 Chang Hoon Seo 2.031 -11
9 HaengJik Kim 2.205 -12
10 Dani Sanchez 1.891 -10
11 Dick Jaspers 2.323 -14
12 Murat Naci Coklu 2.046 -7
13 Semih Sayginer 1.712 -16
14 Roland Forthomme 1.648 -10
15 Lütfi Cenet 1.383 -10
16 Peter De Backer 1.326 -11
17 Quyet Chien Tran 1.734 -18
18 Nikos Polychronopoulos 1.978 -10
19 Myung-Woo Cho 1.842 -11
20 Tayfun Tasdemir 1.762 -10.
The overall average in the main tournament with the last 32 players was 1.762 That is one of the best averages ever.
Dick Jaspers remains the number one in the world ranking. Martin Horn, with his second place and Torbjörn Blomdahl with his place in the semi-finals entered the top 14. Javier Palazón, the winner, rose to 22nd place.
Javier Palazón can't hide his emotions after his win in the final against Martin Horn
The World Cup stage with Javier Palazón as the winner, Martin Horn, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Jung-Han Heo
Belgian Peter De Backer, one of the stars in this World Cup
The ambiance and the light effects at the Blankenberge casino
The new UMB ranking (+ en - for the positions):
1 Dick Jaspers 516 (-)
2 Frédéric Caudron 382 (-)
3 Semih Sayginer 313 (-)
4 Eddy Merckx 280 (-)
5 Tayfun Tasdemir 279 (+1)
6 Marco Zanetti 258 (+1)
7 Jae Ho Cho 222 (+1)
8 Tran Quyet Chien 219 (-3)
9 Sameh Sidhom 218 (-)
10 Murat Naci Coklu 216 (+1)
11 Jérémy Bury 214 (-1)
12 Martin Horn 203 (+7)
13 Jung-Han Heo 189 (+2)
14 Torbjörn Blomdahl 187 (+2)
15 Sung-Won Choi 173 (+2)
16 Myung Woo Cho 168 (-3)
17 Haeng-Jik Kim 162 (+3)
18 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 159 (-6)
19 Eddy Leppens 154 (-2)
20 Roland Forthomme 151 (+4)
21 Dani Sanchez 150 (+2)
22 Javier Palazón 149 (+26)
23 Minh Cam Ma 141 (-2)
24 Filippos Kasidokostas 138 (-2)
25 Dinh Nai Ngo 135 (-11).