3-Cushion
VIERSEN - The Belgian team of Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Caudron is once again the world's best. For the fourth consecutive team did the Belgian twosome win the world championship for national teams in Viersen. In the final, they needed the 'Scotch double' to beat Korea, winning that added set by 15 to 11 in just three innings.
The Scotch double was needed after Eddy Merckx had beaten Jung-Han Heo in the regular final (40-32 in 25) and Frédéric Caudron had lost his match against Jae Ho Cho (40-33 in 20). The tension filled 15-point play-off put the Belgians back on top of the rostrum. Giants Merckx and Caudron were world champions together for the fourth time, when even in the days of Raymond Ceulemans and Ludo Dielis, Belgium could never win this title.
Frédéric Caudron: ,,We showed tremendous team spirit, and we had each other's back all the way.'' Eddy Merckx: ,,We have proved to be the best for four years now, but we have never been invited to the Belgian sports gala, where the athletes of the year are chosen. There is, unfortunately, no such recognition in our country.''
In the previous WC finals in Viersen, Belgium beat Germany, Turkey and the Netherlands. The Koreans, who are next to Belgium as the strongest 3-cushion nation in the world, have never yet won this WC. They came to Viersen with two of their top players (Jung-Han Heo and Jae Ho Cho), but without the current world champion Sung-Won Choi and Asian champion HaengJik Kim, because they were not ranked high enough on the Korean ranking list.
The Belgians and the Koreans came into the final after a thrilling warm up on the last day. Two times the Scotch Double system had to decide over winner in the semi-finals. The Dutch, who were in the final against Belgium last year, played a draw against Korea. And Belgium finished 1-1 against Turkey.
Dick Jaspers defeated for the Dutch Jung-Han Heo 40-27 in 22, Jae Ho Cho levelled the score against Barry van Beers with 40-32 in 20. The Scotch Double was in balance until 9-9, then Jae Ho Cho and Jung-Han Heo ran out to 15-10. At the other tables, where the Belgians and Turkey struggled for victory, Frédéric Caudron showed his best form again with a win against Adnan Yüksel (40-12 in 12). Thereby the Belgian number lifted his overall average to 2.857 over four matches, by far the best of all players in the tournament.
Eddy Merckx couldn't follow Tayfun Tasdemir (40-25 in 16), which also required a Scotch Double after this match. Caudron and Merckx ran out to 9-0, then had a little setback which allowed the opponent to come back to 12-7. The Belgians closed the match with two final points of Caudron and Merckx.
Frédéric Caudron concluded after the two sensational sessions: ,,I agree, it's wonderful for the audience, but for us, the favourites for the title, for sure it's more difficult to win.'' Eddy Merckx: ,,As the winners we say that the system is nice. Still I don't know. The Dutch, who made the most caroms against Korea, which is already a great performance, were sent home in the barrage. They must feel very bad.''
The president of the World federation, Jean-Claude Dupont, responded enthusiastically to the introduction of the Scotch Double system. ,,We can say that it is a huge success. There was a lot of spectacle for the audience, that's what we all want to see, because it was the intention to make this World championship more exciting and sensational. We will certainly maintain the system. Many people even want to see it from the preliminary rounds, but we have to see and discuss.''
The tournament in the Festhalle attracted many spectators as every year, although the stands were less occupied on the closing day after the elimination of the Germans. Most notably, furthermore, was the early elimination of the record champion Sweden by the Korean B team.
The question still remains whether Viersen will organize the tournament next year. Meanwhile some candidates have reported to take over the World Cup. The organization in the Festhalle estimates the continuation at ten percent that a 27th edition will be played in Viersen. The reason for doubt is that the UMB wants to establish an organization for five years and wants to offer prize money to the players in the coming years.
The final ranking:
1 Belgium A 1.968 average
2 Corea A 1.867
3 Turkey 1.427
3 Netherlands 1.693
5 Germany A 1.313
6 Denmark 1.529
7 Corea B 1.508
8 Spain 1.443
9 Sweden 1.476
10 Belgium B 1.557.
Ranking individual:
1 Jae Ho Cho (Corea) 5-10-2.127-10
2 Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey) 4-8-1.600-8
3 Frédéric Caudron (Belgium) 5-8-2.506-16
4 Eddy Merckx (Belgium) 5-8-1.608-7
5 Christian Rudolph (Germany) 3-6-1.090-10
6 Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) 4-6-1.821-15
7 Jung Han Heo (Corea) 5-6-1.642-10
8 Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden) 2-4-1.951-12
9 Jérémy Bury (France) 2-4-1.739-10
10 Tonny Carlsen (Denmark) 3-4-1.710-19
11 Martin Horn (Germany) 3-4-1.652-10
12 Hyung Kon Kim (Corea) 3-4-1.493-7.
More high averages:
Nikos Polychronopoulos 1.688
Dani Sánchez 1.652
Barry van Beers 1.573
Hyung Kon Kim 1.493
Brian Zola Hansen 1.380
Marco Zanetti 1.344.
The highest tournament run: Frédéric Caudron, 16.
Eddy Merckx after the winning point in the final