3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - Only Kyung-Roul Kim himself and the few Korean players and supporters in the audience could hear what he shouted after his last carom and after that thrilling final against Jef Philipoom. ,,I can do it, yes I can,'' he yelled (in Korean) with so much emotion. It was the win of his match, of course, that made him so happy, but also the qualification for the finals of the Agipi Masters.
That victory against Jef Philipoom was a sensation by itself: the Koreans had to fight back from an almost hopeless position when Philipoom had scored a run of eleven in the 19th inning, bringing the score to 43-24.
But where the Belgian made only four points in his next innings, Kim crept back in the match, first with a run of nine, then with 4 and 7 and in the 26th inning he got his first matchpoint at 49-47. He needed three more before he finished in the 30th inning with the winning point and then cried out his enormous joy. 'I can, yes I can.'' Seldom seen a Korean player who showed so much passion.
It all happened after two of the fastest players in the circuit had already finished for more than half an hour. Frédéric Caudron and Nikos Polychronopoulos are two artists in three cushion who rarely think long time about positions. The match just took a little over one hour, included the break.
There was no tension in the bump between two speed trains: Caudron made a super run of 17 (!), the highest so far in the preliminary rounds. And he won the game 50-39 in 28 innings.
That means for Caudron that he needs a win against Choi in their match tomorrow. Kyung-Roul Kim has seeded for the finals with six match points. Caudron and Choi both gathered four points and play against each other. A draw is not enough for Caudron, because Choi's average is higher: 1.971 against 1.733.
Jef Philipoom is out, however he was so close to a sensational win against Kyung-Roul Kim.