3-Cushion
NEW YORK - The birthday boy Dick Jaspers (50!) treated the crowd to caroms instead of beer. The Dutchman was one of the stars on the opening gala of the semi-final rounts in the Carom Cafe in New York, where not only he, but mainly Eddy Merckx kicked off with an awesome 35 in ten innings. Harry Reyes (12 innings), Frédéric Caudron (13) and Torbjörn Blomdahl (14) shone with a tremendous start, Semih Sayginer won in fifteen innings, Murat Naci Coklu and Roland Forthomme in sixteen and in his fluent style Merckx launched the blistering start of his tournament: two matches done, 2.692 average and a fabulous run of nineteen.
What a kick-off it was in the semiifinals, where forty players (four groups of ten) compete for sixteen places in the knockout. That means, the best four in each group advance to the final round.
The groups after two sessions:
Group A:
Torbjörn Blomdahl, Jose Juan Garcia and Semih Sayginer took the spotlights and lead with two victories. The Swede played his best match against Young Ha Choi in fourteen, but faltered a little in his fight with Jim Shovak (23). Semih Sayginer showed his master class in matches against Choi (35 in 15) and Shovak (35 in 18) and recorded 2.121 in two performances.
Luis Aveiga swallowed two losses against Carlos Campino and Michael Hansen. Campino starred in sixteen innings, but lost to Harry Reyes 35-20 in 12 (!). Reyes continued with a loss against Sameh Sidhom 35-26 in 37.
Group B:
Dick Jaspers had a formidable opening day facing Huberney Catano (35-16 in ten) and then defeated Chris Bartzos in 18 innings (2.500 over two matches. Strong winner was Ronald Forthomme against Robinson Morales 35-15 in 16, but the Belgian lost to Huberney Catano in his second 35-30 in 27. Peter Ceulemans missed out on a shot to victory in a not too good match with Carlos Palafox: 35-34 in 42 and was also bested by Wesley de Jager 35-26 in 22. Michael Kang beat Chris Bartzos (35-20 in 36) and then lost to Palafox. Alexander Salazar defeated Wesley Jaeger and Robinson Morales, Palafox remained unbeaten.
Group C:
Eddy Merckx had a flying start with victories over Ira Lee (35-6 in 10) and Vinny Siemaszko (35-9 in 16). The American showed his huge admiration on his facebook: ,,Ahhh, that’s how you are supposed to play the game, bravo Eddy Merckx.’’
Raymond Ceulemans faced two strong opponents, losing to Murat Naci Coklu (35-28 in 15) and Tayfun. Tasdemir 35-31 in 24. Two matches, two lost, however… 1.513 for the master.
Therese Klompenhouwer started with a 35-31 loss to Coklu in 20 and recovered with a wonderful win against Tasdemir 35-19 in 24. The women’s world champion had a modal start: one average. Murat Naci Coklu certainly is vying top four.
Group D:
Frédéric Caudron (13 innings, 2.692) was by far the best winner in a group where Marco Zanetti, Pedro Piedrabuena and Andrés Lizarazo are the main contenders. The capricious Colombian Lizarazo didn’t show his Thursday’s form, but beat William Oh: 35-21 in 29 and Manuel Riano in 25.
Marco Zanetti needed for his win 22 innings against Kurt Ceulemans (35-20, 1.591), Sruong Pheavy was the victim of Caudron scoring (35-14). Pedro Piedrabuena, former winner in New York, didn’t find the best form so far, yet he beat Manuel Riano in 36 innings.
Caudron and Zanetti bested Johansen and Oh in the second session, Hugo Patino started with two wins and 1.346, Piedrabuena was considerably stronger against Kurt Ceulemans 35-16 in 18.
The matches for the first session on Friday:
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Harry Reyes, Jose Juan Garcia-Carlos Campino, Semih Sayginer-Sameh Sidhom, Luis Aveiga-Jim Shovak, Michael Hansen-Young Ha Choi, Eddy Merckx Miguel Torres, Raymond Ceulemans-Young Gull Lee, Murat Naci Coklu-Ira Lee, Lars Dunch-Tayfun Tasdemir, Therese Klompenhouwer-Vinny Siemaszko.
The group rankings after two rounds:
Group A:
1 Semih Sayginer 2-4-2.121-8
2 Torbjörn Blomdahl 2-4-1.892-8
3 Jose Juan Garcia 2-4-1.077-6
4 Carlos Campino 2-2-2.037-6
5 Harry Reyes 2-2-1.245-13
6 Sameh Sidhom 2-2-0.866-10
7 Michael Hansen 2-2-0.859-7
8 Luis Aveiga 2-0-1.156-10
9 Young Ha Choi 2-0-0.517-4
10 Jim Shovak 2-0-0.359-1.
Group B:
1 Dick Jaspers 2-4-2.500-9
2 Alexander Salazar 2-4-1.400-6
3 Carlos Palafox 2-4-0.886-8
4 Roland Forthomme 2-2-1.512-10
5 Huberney Catano 2-2-1.378-6
6 Wesley de Jaeger 2-2-1.367-10
7 Michael Kang 2-2-0.878-5
8 Robinson Morales 2-0-1053-5
9 Peter Ceulemans 2-0-0.938-7
10 Chris Bartzos 2-0-0.623-3
Group C:
1 Eddy Merckx 2-4-2.692-19
2 Murat Naci Coklu 2-4-1.458-16
3 Lars Dunch 2-4-1.111-11
4 Young Gull Lee 2-4-0.983-6
5 Tayfun Tasdemir 2-2-1.125-7
6 Therese Klompenhouwer 2-2-1.000-6
7 Raymond Ceulemans 2-0-1.513-9
8 Miguel Torres 2-0-0.983-6
9 Ira Lee 2-0-0.628-3
10 Vinny Siemaszko 2-0-0.525-4
Group D:
1 Frédéric Caudron 2-4-2.258-9
2 Marco Zanetti 2-4-1.556-9
3 Hugo Patino 2-4-1.346-8
4 Pedro Piedrabuena 2-4-1.296
5 Andrés Lizarazo 2-4-1.273-9
6 Sruong Pheavy 2-0-0.944-4
7 Kurt Ceulemans 2-0-0.923-5
8 Dan Johansen 2-0-0.894-8
9 William Oh 2-0-0.843-5
10 Manuel Riano 2-0-0.833-5.
Practice time for Marco Zanetti, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dick Jaspers and Frédéric Caudron
