3-Cushion
SEOUL - Tomorrow, on Wednesday, at 14.00 pm Korean time (22.00 Wednesday evening European time) the World championship three cushion breaks loose in Seoul, Korea. The tournament is played with 48 players from around the world. Frédéric Caudron defends his title, which he won last year in Antwerp.
The competition is fierce, not only from the top twelve players in the world, also from the Korean home players. The World championship starts with the group phase, in which 48 players are divided into groups of three: the group winners advance for the knockout stage.
Kozoom posed three questions to eight European players top and asked the expectations and ambitions for this World championship.
1 How did you prepare for this World championship in Korea?
2. Which have the best chance to win the title?
3 What are your expectations and ambitions?
Frédéric Caudron (Belgium, defending champion):
1 ,,I had no special preparation, but I'm ready after this weekend, when I played the Lausanne Billard Masters.''
2 ,,Many players can win the World championship, maybe there will be an unexpected winner. A Korean, a Vietnamese or European? No one can know...''
3 ,,My goal is to win and I will do my best for it, otherwise I should better stay home.''
Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden):
1 ,,I spent a week in Colombia and then played the Masters in Lausanne. Hopefully I'm fit again after the long flight. I will arrive today (Tuesday) and start at Thursday, so, have time to recover.''
2 ,,The top players plus the Vietnamese players, who are very strong developing. I myself hope to play a better role than in the past few years.''
3 ,,I just want to play well: 40 points is short. You can quickly be blown away in 7 to 12 innings. But if not, I know I have a chance to win the title.''
Eddy Merckx (Belgium):
1 ,,My preparation was not different than for other tournaments. Last week I played league matches in the Netherlands, Belgium and France.''
2 ,,Many players can win this World championship, maybe, the first 20, 25 players of the ranking are able to do that.''
3 ,,My goal is to play well and then see what happens. With so many good players, no one can predict who will win.''
Dick Jaspers (Netherlands):
1 ,,I have prepared in the normal way, by training strong and relaxed and play matches.''
2 ,,The first five to ten players in the world can win. With Sanchez as an outsider.''
3 ,,My goal is to reach the final four and who knows... maybe I'm mentally strong enough on the final day to win.''
Marco Zanetti (Italy):
1 ,,The victory in the Lausanne Masters have given me the confidence to play well at the World championship. For that tournament in Switzerland I did not feel fit me but I grew mentally and physically in Lausanne.''
2 ,,Winning a World championship is something very special. My list of honour is not too big in this championship: two world titles. Ten to twelve players can win.''
3 ,,My goal is to play well.''
Roland Forthomme (Belgium):
1 ,,No special preparation. I played my games in the Netherlands, Belgium and France and practiced two, three times a week.''
2 ,,Very difficult to say. Twenty players can win, the level is very high. Because a player can have a very good week and suddenly can be unbeatable. I think the averages will be very high, like in Guri, even though the pressure is bigger.''
3 ,,The first thing I will do my best. I have a chance to come into the top twelve of the world if I play a good World championship. And if I have the chance to win, I'm ready for the big surprise. You never know...''
Jérémy Bury (France):
1 ,,My preparation was a bit hard, because I picked up my job as a teacher again in September. I have not been able to practice very much, but with my own table at home, it is a bit more easy now. The most important thing is that you are mentally and physically fit. After Lausanne, where I played well, I have the confidence that I can play a good World championship.''
2 ,,There are so many players at the moment who can beat the top players. Especially in the 40 points-matches. We see it in the World Cups. Frédéric Caudron is in good shape, but there are many other contenders. I hope I'm one of them.''
3 ,,I like to play in Korea, I feel good there and I will fight to be in the final matches until the end. As I said, there are many surprises in this short runs.''
Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey):
1 ,,I had no special preparation: daily practice between two and four hours. We had a Grand Prix in Turkey last weekend, which was good for the rhythm.''
2 ,,My favorites are Frédéric Caudron, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dick Jaspers and Dani Sánchez.''
3 ,,My goal is to reach the final.''
Marco Zanetti, winner of the Lausanne Billard Masters this weekend
Dani Sánchez and Frédéric Caudron, the titleholder: two big guns for the title in Seoul.