High class against powerless in qualifications

SAN JAVIER – There were classy matches when David Zapata, Haeng Jik Kim and David Martinez were at the tables, but also performances that were a waste of time and out of place on a WC.

To illustrate the differences in the four qualifying groups that were completed this evening: the Spanish favorite David Zapata recorded 1.829 over three matches and Egyptian Ahmed Hatem 0.451.

Luckily, the powerful and the powerless were sent their seperate ways in these first two days, as they are on a “real” WC.

David Zapata shone through consistency, and he was the best over two days. Haeng Jik Kim excelled in 1 match: his last one, where he ended with a run of 15. David Martinez was strong, not so much in terms of average, but because he ended first in the group where  Haeng Jik Kim was such a strong favorite.

The excentric Turk Ömer Karakurt and Portugal’s Joao Ferreira won the other two groups, that were certainly not as strong as the ones that held Zapata, Kim en Martinez.

Ferreira was even in danger of losing his honor in the prelims, but thanks to inept Hatem he could win his match in 37 innings. It brought him to the top of his flight, where he had beaten Korea’s Jun Tae Kim.

Ömer Karakurt finished badly against young Sergio Aparicio, who was ahead all match. The Turk found his legs just in time, and made the last 11 points in 2 innings.

The three heavyweights from the prelims are now the favorites for the title. The draw shows that there can be no final between David Zapata and Haeng Jik Kim. They can only meet in a semifinal.

David Zapata will first have to deal with Jose Garcia from Colombia, Haeng Jik Kim has a more dangerous opponent. Joao Ferreira was not as good as he can be in the group, he was invited to the Agipi Masters for a reason.

David Martinez and Ömer Karakurt are in the top half of the draw, where they meet Korean Jun Tae Kim and Dutchman Raymon Groot.
Especially the Martinez - Jun Tae Kim match (who was runner-up to Haeng Jik Kim last year), will be the quarter-finals earliest piece of fireworks.

The eight quarterfinalists and their averages:
1 David Zapata 1.829, 2 Haeng Jik Kim 1.565, 3 Jun Tae Kim 1.314, 4 Ömer Karakurt 1.171, 5 David Martinez 1.136, 6 Jose Garcia 0.985, 7 Joao Ferreira 0.882, 8 Raymon Groot 0.786.

The quartr final matches:
Martinez-Jun Tae Kim
Karakurt-Groot
Haeng Jik Kim-Ferreira
Zapata-Garcia