3-Cushion
LA BAULE - The bluffing and high class Frédéric Caudron showed, in a match that could have turned into a world record, was the run-up to the first movements at the World Cup in La Baule. Two of the other, former Agipi stars on the European stage entertained the French fans in a grand overture. The Belgian world's number one ran in his match against Lütfi Cenet in three innings to the break (25-10 with 6, 1 and 18) and finished after a short setback 40-12 in 9, 4.444 average. Jérémy Bury outplayed Nikos Polychronopoulos 40-27 in 11, averaging 3.636 and Marco Zanetti, playing Gwendal Maréchal, gave the first day at the World Cup an awesome start.
The famous Agipi team, with the Belgian Caudron, the Italian Zanetti and the Frenchman Bury won the Coupe d'Europe for teams seven times. When the sponsor, Claude Fath, stopped the team, the three players went their separate ways. On the world stage, they still belong to the best players with Caudron as the current number one in the world. The opening day at La Baule's World Cup showed that the Agipi legends want to make a shot at the final victory. Caudron seemed on his way to a World Cup record (40 in 5 is never played), but after 25-10 in three and 28-10 in four innings, the Belgian could not keep up the high speed scoring.
Jérémy Bury ran after his opponent's quick start (Polychronopoulos was 13-3 ahead in 2) in one long rush to the finish with runs of 11, 6 and 5-8 in the last two innings for a 40-27 victory in 11. Therefore, after the first day, the French crowd luckily keeps one of his homeland heroes in the tournament.
Marco Zanetti (56), the oldest player in the final field, playing with antibiotics because of a strong sinusitis, needed a hard fight to knock down the youngest of the field, Frenchman Gwendal Maréchal (21). He managed in the last two innings with a run of 12 to 39-30 and finally the winning point in the 19th inning.
The Swede Torbjörn Blomdahl was beaten without a real chance by Martin Horn and threatens to make a diver in the rankings. Eddy Merckx, who has lost his summer flow, was thrown out in the last session by a loss against Semih Sayginer 40-31 in 30. The Vietnamese are taking over the Asian power for the time being, because three Koreans went out in the first rounds. Dick Jaspers seemed slightly impressed by Caudron's astonishing start. The Dutch world champion had a promising start against Robinson Morales (23-4 in 5), but suffered a minor second part in his match: 40-33 in 22.
Torbjörn Blomdahl, a fixed value in the top ten for many years, is gradually slipping down to the danger zone. The Swede's minor period opened up after his last world title in 2015 (Bordeaux) and was only interrupted by the World Cup victory in La Baule last year. The physical problems and some surgeries, have broken Blomdahl's rhythm. He still hunts successes, but he's fighting against himself, like in his match with Martin Horn on this first day. In the second part, the German was a way too strong and won 40-18 in 14. Dani Sänchez, with his victory over Pierre Soumagne, was also one of the stars on the first day: 40-18 in 16.
The Vietnamese have Minh Cam Ma, Dinh Nai Ngo and Quyet Chien Tran still in the last sixteen, the Turks were even more successful and went to the second matchday with Semih Sayginer, Tayfun Tasdemir, Murat Naci Coklu and Birol Uymaz.
The second match day shows some exciting matches, including the revenge for the World championship final between Dick Jaspers and Jérémy Bury.
The schedule:
Saturday, 11.00 am French time:
Frédéric Caudron-Murat Naci Coklu
Minh Cam Ma-Dinh Nai Ngo
Jung-Han Heo-Martin Horn
Marco Zanetti-Quyet Chien Tran
13.00:
Dani Sánchez-Birol Uymaz
Dion Nelin-Jae-Ho Cho
Dick Jaspers-Jérémy Bury
Semih Sayginer-Tayfun Tasdemir.
Marco Zanetti, the oldest in the field, outplayed the youngest, Gwendal Maréchal
Dani Sänchez, strong show up in his first performance
Quyet Chien Tran fired up the Vietnamese start
Birol Uymaz, one of five Turks on the second day in La Baule
All final players for the World Cup main stage in La Baule
The French referees for the World Cup