3-Cushion
BLANKENBERGE - The billiard table in the corner far away from the stage gave Juan David Zapata a magical feeling. He had beaten the number one Frédéric Caudron in the first round in a wonderful match this World Cup last year. The Spaniard now faced the modest Portuguese Fernando Manuel Silva at the same billiard on the third day of Blankenberge's World Cup and had another famous start with 9-4-4 and a 17-3 lead after three innings. When he finished his seventh inning, Zapata was already two caroms from the finish (38-8), but an unfortunate kiss and one point in the last four innings kept him from his best match ever in a World Cup. The final score was 30-11 in 11 innings, still a great performance and 1,935 over two matches on a day with Belgian, Danish and Spanish fireworks and with Peter De Backer and Thomas Andersen as the best winners.
The Spanish young man Zapata, who remained in the shadows in the battle at the Spanish championship (1 Ruben Legazpi, 2 Javier Palazón), gives the impression that he can make it to the main draw, but that certainly applies even more to the Belgian public idol Peter De Backer, who after seems to grow even further in the tournament after showing three days of great form. For his last match this day, against the Greek Kostas Papakonstantinou, he only needed 12 innings, after a start with 14-5 in 5, followed by a run of 9 and a final sprint with 3-1-3. In his earlier match, De Backer was not threatened by the former European junior champion Antonio Montes, 30-17 in 18 innings.
Just like Thomas Andersen, it brought him a final average of 2,000. The Dane bested Peter Ceulemans 30-23 in 13 and Gökhan Salman 30-17 in 17 in his matches. Gwendal Maréchal continued showing his progression and shone against Vasseur and Bong chul Kim with 1.875 overall. Jef Philipoom was the second Belgian remaining in the World Cup behind De Backer with victories over Turgay Orak (30-29 in 25) and Therese Klompenhouwer, 30-27 in 21. Barry van Beers, who already showed an excellent form in Vietnam, also was on his very best on the third day meeting two feared opponents: the Korean Jun-Tae Kim, two-time silver winner at a World championship for juniors (30-21 in 19) and in his last game Murat Tuzül 30-29 in 17, among other by a run of 10 midway. The Dutchman closed the day with 1,666 over two matches.
On the day of the last qualifications, a fight for 12 group winners and three runners-up, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dani Sánchez, Myung-Woo Choi, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Sung-Won Choi and Martin Horn, Minh Cam Ma, Dion Nelin and Birol Uymaz make a stap at the main draw in groups with strong opponents.
Torbjörn Blomdahl returns to the stage after his perilous adventure at the Swedish championship a few weeks ago. The tournament ended with a victory for the multiple world champion, but already during the last days Blomdahl felt a severe pain on the side of his throat. ,, I could hardly eat and talk anymore, luckily breathing went well, but I slept at most one hour a night. '' The final was only just played when the new Swedish champion, for the 28th time and with 1.875 average , was taken away, placed on a stretcher and brought to the hospital with flashing blue lights. ''The doctors were waiting for me and saw strongly swollen tonsils when I opened my mouth. I was helped quickly, they opened it and cleaned it. After that, I didn't have any problems anymore'', Blomdahl said when he arrived in Blankenberge this Wednesday.
The ranking on Wednesay:
1 Peter De Backer 4-2.000-11
2 Thomas Andersen 4-2.000-10
3 Juan David Zapata 4-1.935-9
4 Gwendal Maréchal 4-1.875-7
5 Barry van Beers 4-1.666-10
6 Tolgahan Kiraz 4-1.538-12
7 Chi Yeon Cho 4-1.428-7
8 Chang Hoon Seo 4-1.428-7
9 Trung Hau Do Nguyen 4-1.363-10
10 Ahmet Alp 4-1.304-9
11 Jef Philipoom 4-1.304-8
12 Arnim Kahofer 4-1.132-7
13 Sung Il Jeong 4-1.016-7
14 Xuan Cuong Ma 3-1.395-8
15 Rui Costa 3-1.276-7
16 Ronny Lindemann 2-1.297-6.
The groups for Thursday:
Poule A: Kahofer, Choi, Jeong
Poule B: Sánchez, Ma, Philipoom
Poule C: Blomdahl, Rui Costa, Alp
Poule D: Do Nguyen, Horn, Lindemann
Poule E: Polychronopoulos, Pennör, Seo
Poule F: Ma, Nelin, Chi Yeon Cho
Poule G: Morales, Capak, Kiraz
Poule H: Cenet, Garcia, Van Beers
Poule I: Martinez, Nady, Maréchal
Poule J: Myung-Woo Cho, Yüksel, Zapata
Poule K: Duong, Carlsen, Andersen
Poule L: Palazón, Uymaz, De Backer.
Peter De Backer, the number one again on the third day
Gwendal Maréchal showed his high class again
Dutchman Barry van Beers, top five and advanced to the last qualifications