3-Cushion
GURI - GURI - The final day of the Guri World Cup will present us with a battle between four seI feelasoned European players, a wealth of titles between them. Tayfun Tasdemir, Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez and Frédéric Caudron will decide who wins the gold, in a tournament that, day by day, lost all its Asian hopefuls. The expected confrontation between east and west never materialized. The last of the Vietnamese players was Quoc Nguyen Nguyen, who has the mimicry to entertain the crowd, but not yet the class to beat Dick Jaspers in a quarterfinal.
Two of the four players on the final day are also in the hunt for a record. The world record tournament average in a World Cup (Torbjörn Blomdahl, 2.739, Peloponessos, 2012) is the target for Dick Jaspers. The Dutchman has an average of 2.790 after three rounds, with Dani Sánchez and Tayfun Tasdemir not too far behind at 2.307, Frédéric Caudron used up 29 innings in his win over Garcia, so he's the last of the four at 1.690.
Dick Jaspers felt very comfortable after two days. ,,What can I say, I feel very good, I play well and had no problems with the jetlag. The best thing is, that my focus is very good.''
Of these four, Tasdemir has the most recent World Cup victory: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, last month. Dick Jaspers won his last in Luxor 2015, and before that Porto 2014. Frédéric Caudron last World Cup success was in Luxor 2014. Dani Sánchez needs to look back a bit further, to Matosinhos in 2012. Dick Jaspers will have to give up 80 ranking points, but will almost surely stay in the top three. Tayfun Tasdemir will improve his position, for Frédéric Caudron there is nowhere to go but up, and Dani Sánchez too will solidify his place in the priviliged twelve.
The extraordinary level of play in this World Cup, in the lion's den no less, has put the Koreans and Vietnamese back in their place for a bit. The European top players, more experienced as they are, have no intention of giving up their dominance just yet. Most remarkable in this World Cup, was the fact that world champion Sung-Won Choi has not yet overcome his crisis of form, Haeng Jik Kim, the Asian champion, needs a little more time to regain his match rhythm, and Jae Ho Cho, Dong Koong Kang, Hyung Bum Hwang and Jung Han Heo too often mix up brilliant performances with lesser matches.
Quoc Nguyen Nguyen was the best of the Vietnamese, of those Quyet Chien Tran losing a hard fight with Roland Forthomme and Anh Vu Duong outplayed by an impressive Jaspers. The Dutchman also halted Nguyen in the quarterfinals. Dani Sánchez played Merckx and faced a 13 point deficit after just two innings. The Spanish fury gained momentum after the third inning, he restored the balance at 19-18 and took the lead at 26-19 after seven innings. The match ended at 40-23 in 13: Merckx only scored 10 more points after the 13-0, Sánchez produced 40 points in those 11 innings.
Dick Jaspers ran a 10 early in the match to put his opponent on the back foot: 22-4 after 5 innings, and he was never in danger from that point: 40-22 in 12. Frédéric Caudron and Tayfun Tasdemir were the first to book a place in the semi. The Belgian defeated the tournament revelation, Colombian Jose Juan Garcia 40-31 in 29 innings.
Tayfun Tasdemir made the last four when he beat Roland Forthomme. The Turk did the hard work when he ran a ten in the 16th inning, making it 35-24, finishing a little later at 40-35. Frédéric Caudron ended the great tournament of Jose Juan Garcia, for whom the billiard rooms fill up in his country, with fans watching the matches in Guri.
The Turk commented after his match: ,,I am very happy that my form stayed where it should be, after the win in Vietnam. I am playing with confidence, I know I can make a big run at any time, and it will win me matches.’’
Sunday's semifinals: 13.00 (Korean time): Frédéric Caudron-Tayfun Tasdemir 15.00: Dick Jaspers-Dani Sánchez. Finale at 18.00. All matches will be live on Kozoom.
Tayfun Tasdemir
Dani Sánchez
Frédéric Caudron
Jose Juan Garcia