3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - Two matches in the first session of Group B could still go either way during the break. In the match between Jérémy Bury and HaengJik Kim the score was 28-28 in 18 innings. Eddy Merckx and Roland Forthomme were on 27-28 after 17 innings. On their way to the finish, the attact of Merckx and Bury brought the decision: Merckx won his match 50-36, Bury was the best with 50-40.
The Belgian and the French had a much better sprint than their opponents. The young Korean couldn't continue his runs in the final phase, when his score stopped between the 21st and 26th inning. He made only three more points to the end.
Jérémy Bury, the runner-up last year in the Agipi Masters, started his attack in the second part, he ran away from the 19th inning with a run of eight and flattened the way to the arrival with 2-3-4-2.
He had felt a little unsure, he told afterwards, because he had been suffering from a knee injury for a couple of weeks. ,,I did not know how I would feel during the match'', he said, ,,but in fact there were o problems.''
Eddy Merckx launched his attact in the 18th, 19th and 20th inning, when he put his opponent on a backlog with runs of seven, five and four. Therefore he lifted the score to an 43-32 advantage. Five innings later he closed the match at 50-36 in 25 innings.