3-Cushion
PELOPENNESOS - The sensation of the World Cup in Korea, two weeks ago, is still far away from a new stunt. 32-year-old Vietnamese Ngo Dinh Nai started off as a whirlwind against Korean Jae Guen Kim, today (Thursday) in the first qualifying round of the World Cup in Pelopennesos.
The Asian battle captivated the audience from the start: the coming man Ngo scored 8 from the breakshot, followed by 5, 3 and 3, led 19-4 after four innings, but was passed by his opponent, who made his comeback in the match with runs of seven (6th inning) and eighth (8th inning). Thad made it to a score of 24-20 for the Korean.
In the final part, Jae Guen Kim, who is 98th in the world ranks, showed again his high class. He finished with runs 4 and 5 and beat the best player of the Guri World Cup 40-34 in 16 innings. Third man in this group is Adnan Yüksel.
Jin Pyo Hong, who after yesterday claimed first spot on the ranking, has found his rhythm quickly on the new day of prelims. In the first session he beat his compatriot Choong-Bok Lee, a much better known player in the circuit, 40-31 in 20.
Dave Christiani, Raimond Burgman and Ruben Legazpi made a strong impression in the first matches of the day. The two Dutch won in 21 and 22 innings, Christiani against a Korean talent, Hyung Bum Hwang, Burgman, imperturbable as ever, vs the veteran Egyptian Khaled Salem.
Hyun-Suk Kim put Peter Ceulemans in his place 40-31 in 25, in the group in which Tayfun Tasdemir is third man. Jung Han Heo defeated the Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma, player at the World Games, 40-33 in 22.
Two other Vietnamese, Xuan Cuong Ma and Vinh Ly The, played an attractive match, which turned out into a draw: 40-40 in 34 innings.