3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - The sportsdirectors of the Agipi Masters 2012 have announced the first groups and matches which will be played next mounth in the Agipi center in Schiltigheim. Glenn Hoffman (the Netherlands), Ryuuji Umeda (Japan), Jef Philipoom (Belgium) and Jérôme Barbeillon (France) will open the qualification rounds on Thursday, October 27. They are divided in Group 1 and play for two places in the next round.
The Agipi Masters 2012 will be played according to a new system with three preliminary rounds on 27, 28, 29 and 30 October, the first of two qualification rounds for the finals on 27, 28 and January 29 next year, the second qualification on 24, 25 and 26 February. The final stage is on 22, 23, 24 and 25 March with eight players.
The first qualification has four groups with four Koreans, four French, three Belgians, two Turkish, one Dutch, one Japanese and one Greek. Two groups are played on Thursday and Friday, the other two on Saturday and Sunday.
The Koreans will be presented by a strong delegation in Schiltigheim. Jae Ho Cho is the finalist of the last World Cup in Suwon, Jung-Han Heo excelled in the previous Agipi Masters, Dong-Gung Kang belongs to the new generation of top players and Haeng Jik Kim is the double junior world champion. He is one of three young players in these preliminaries. Glenn Hoffman is one of the contenders in the the group with Jef Philipoom, Ryuuji Umeda and Jérôme Barbeillon. Pierre Soumagne and Cédric Melnytschenko are playing in the group with Lütfi Cenet and Nikos Polychronopoulos.
The group formats:
Group 1: Jef Philipoom (Belgium), Ryuuji Umeda (Japan), Glenn Hofman (Netherlands), Jérôme Barbeillon (France).
Group 2: Eddy Leppens (Belgium), Jung-Han Heo (Korea), Haeng Jik Kim (Korea), Roland Forthomme (Belgium).
Group 3: Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey), Jae Ho Cho (Korea), Dong-Gung Kang (Korea), Jean-Christophe Roux (France).
Group 4: Lütfi Cenet (Turkey), Nikos Polychronopoulos (Greece), Cédric Melnytschenko (France), Pierre Soumagne (France).
The program is:
Thursday 14.00:
Ryuuji Umeda-Glenn Hoffman, Jef Philipoom-Jérôme Philipoom.
17.30: Jung-Han Heo-Haeng Jik Kim; Eddy Leppens-Roland Forthomme.
21.00: Jef-Philipoom Glenn Hofman; Ryuuji Umeda-Jérôme Barbeillon.
Friday 14.00:
Eddy Leppens-Haeng Jik Kim; Jung-Han Heo-Roland Forthomme.
17.30: Jef Philipoom-Ryuuji Umeda; Glenn Hofman-Jérôme Barbeillon.
21.00: Jung-Han Heo Leppens Eddy, Kim Haeng-JIK Roland Forthomme.
Saturday 10.00:
Jae Ho Cho-Dong Gung Kang; Tayfun Tasdemir-Jean Christophe Roux.
14.00: Cedric Melnytschenko-Pierre Soumagne, Lütfi Cene-Nikos Polychronopoulos.
17.30: Tayfun Tasdemir-Dong Gung Kang; Jae-Ho Cho-Jean Christophe Roux.
Sunday 10.00:
Lütfi Cenet-Pierre Soumagne; Nikos Polychronopoulos-Cédric Melnytschenko
14.00: Tayfun Tasdemir-Jae-Ho Cho, Dong Gun Kang-Jean-Christophe Roux.
17.30: Lütfi Cenet-Cédric Melnytschenko; Nikos Polychronopoulos-Pierre Soumagne.