3-Cushion
TRABZON - Javier Palazón didn't survive his first performance at the World Cup in Trabzon, yet the Spaniard entered the top twelve of the World at the expense of Marco Zanetti. The Italian lost to Nikos Polychronopoulos in a match over five sets yesterday. Jean van Erp defeated Palazón in five sets.
Marco Zanetti for the World Cup in Trabzon was automatically seeded as the twelfth of the ranking. He lost that position because he wasted sixteen points of the World Cup last year in Antalya. Palazón lost only eight points, is now in the top twelve, but he's gonna lose his points from the Spanish championship.
Zanetti at the moment had 204 points, Palazón 206. That means that the Spaniard jumps over his rival to twelfth place. The UMB ranking put Palazón on that position, but it seems that Zanetti is gonna get back the twelfth place when Palazón looses his 30 points of the Spanish championship.
More danger from players behind the top twelve can't be expected, because Jef Philipoom, Eddy Leppens and Jung Han Heo are already out of the tournament. Only Lütfi Cenet can penetrate to top twelve, but he must win the World Cup in Trabzon to realize that.
Marco Zanetti still is obsessed by the penalty of fifty points he received from the UMB after his behavior in Suwon last year. Due to that punishment, he now loses his position in top twelve.
Also interesting for the moment is if Dick Jaspers will still be the number one of the world after Trabzon. The Dutchman has a substantial lead over Frédéric Caudron, but the Belgian looses less points then his opponent in the top. Caudron by the way is only the new number one when he grabs the victory in Trabzon.