Merckx has never been better: New York and Istanbul

ISTANBUL - The name of Eddy Merckx was back again in golden letters, this Saturday night in Istanbul in the Survival 3C Masters, two weeks after his victory in New York. The Belgian billiard player, who is feared in final matches, was by far the best in the Turkish metropolis in the match with two strong Koreans and his countryman Roland Forthomme. The final win in New York came after a one-man show against Torbjörn Blomdahl (40-10 in 10). In the Survival, Merckx triumphed with a huge margin: 134 points on the score board against HaengJik Kim 46, Jae-Ho Cho 33 and Roland Forthomme 27. Eddy Merckx has never been better at the billiards table than in these two weeks.

Two major runs early in the final, which was a Belgium-South Korea battle, made the gap that took the tension out of the game. The '12' in the second inning and the '15' in the fifth paralyzed the opposition of HaengJik Kim, Jae-Ho Cho and Roland Forthomme, who were only competing for the other places on the podium of this Survival. The averages in the final: Merckx 3.133, Kim 1.818, Cho 1.533, Forthomme 1.533.

Eddy Merckx was the first winner of a Masters event, which was then still played with computer-controlled positions. The current tournament format has been played four times so far with Dani Sánchez, Dick Jaspers (twice) and Frédéric Caudron as the winners. With his victory now, Merckx earned 50,000 dollars, HaengJik Kim with his second place, 21,000, Jae Ho Cho 18,000, and Roland Forthomme 15,000.

Merckx commented after the final: ''I played like I was in a dream after those two high runs. I could hardly believe that I had a 100 point lead. I was perplexed: how could I have expected this in a final where I could win 50,000 dollars. I haven't been threatened throughout the whole match, how is it possible. Of course I know that I can focus very well for an important match, it is one of my qualities. But you still have to do it. But I am who I am, I will stay with my two feet on the ground.''

The Belgian star player returned from New York on Wednesday ten days ago, then continued to practice for a few days and in the weekend between he traveled to France with his friend Nicky Verlinden to taste and purchase some champagne. Merckx left for Istanbul for the Survival on Tuesday. ''I cannot say that I have done anything special.'' Tomorrow, Monday, he will return to Belgium, where he plays a competition match on Monday and a match for the Antwerp three-cushion league on Tuesday on the small 2.30 table (!) on Tuesday. ''Then, at the end of the week, I can enjoy one free weekend before I leave for the LGU Cup in Seoul.'' The 50,000 dollar bonus was the second-best prize he ever won. "Only in the McCreery tournament in New York I did better with 100,000." The final in Istanbul, he said, was a little more special because he and Roland Forthomme faced two Koreans. ''We are good friends, Roland and I, we had a nice feeling to be at the table together.''

The final ranking in the last match:

De eindstand in de finale:

1 Eddy Merckx 134-3.133-15
2 HaengJik Kim 46-1.818-7
3 Jae-Ho Cho 33-1.533-5
4 Roland Forthomme 27-1.533-6

HaengJik Kim, the number 2 on a distance

 Jae-Ho Cho, third on the podium

 Roland Forthomme, number 4 and 15.000 dollar

Roland Forthomme won the first semi-final earlier on the day with a total of 96 points and 3.153 on average. Eddy Merckx was second with 61 points and 2.230, Dion Nelin and Quyet Chien Tran were eliminated with 52 and 33 points.

Jae-Ho Cho won the other semi-final with 103 points, 2.866 on average and a high run of 16, followed by HaengJik Kim with 72 points (2.333), Torbjörn Blomdahl (41, 1.642) and Myung-Woo Cho with 24, 1.533.

The rankings in the semi-finals:

De standen in de halve finales:

1 Roland Forthomme 96-3.153-11
2 Eddy Merckx 61-2.538-9
3 Dion Nelin 50-2.230-8
4 Quyet Chien Tran 33-1.916-7

1 Jae-Ho Cho 103-2.866-16
2 HaengJik Kim 72-2.333-10
3 Torbjörn Blomdahl 41-1.642-13
4 Myung-Woo Cho 24-1.533-7

Eddy Merckx, on his way to a huge score in the final match

HaengJik Kim, the number two after a final sprint

Roland Forthomme, an excellent number 4 on the podium