3-Cushion
HO CHI MINH - The dazzling start Namiko Hayashi showed at the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh was followed by a trenchwar match and a poor finish. The 35-year-old Japanese lady, at the World three cushion championship in Tokyo one of the four Japanese girls on the podium three years ago, started on very high level in Ho Chi Minh with a victory over Ngoc Tri Nguyen: 30-27 in 31 innings.
The Korean Bong-Soo Kim, in her second performance, turned out into a tough opponent for the Japanese, after he had launched his tournament with one of the best matches against Ngoc Tri Nguyen: 30-23 in thirteen (2.307). The decisive match was far below the level of the two players: the Korean won 30-11 in 35 innings, Hayashi tumbled down from her throne and was kicked own in a 0.314 match.
The second day of the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh was the same as the opening session: a balance between Vietnamese (eight of sixteen) and Korean (eight) winners with high averages. Two notable luminaries: Sang Dae Lee, who came to the second session as the first substitute, survived his second day ith a final match of 1.578. Thanh Binh Nguyen, third reserve for the second session, won his two matches with 1.666 and 1.428.
Quoc Thuan Pham was the best of them all with a win over Minh Phat Vu (30-25 in 19, run eleven) and a second at Duc Hien Do (30-9 in 12, run ten) with an overall average of 1.932.
Hao Tri Vo and Phuc Thien Le played a Hitchcock match that was decided by the last carom. Vo won 30-29 in 22 innings, both players defeated Bao Khang Nguyen in the first session.
Jun-Tae Kim is one of the young Koreans from the generation of four-time junior world champion Haeng-Jik Kim. He was two times on the rostrum of a World championship: once as second after Haeng-Jik in Guatemala 2011, one year later third in Spanish San Javier after Haeng-Jik and Omer Karakurt.
Jun-Tae Kim could not make it to the next round despite a win in his second match
Jun-Tae Kim was trying to make a new start in this World Cup, but couldn't succeed: he lost his first in Group P (Phu Toan Nguyen, 30-25 in 26 and duelled for the group win with Nguyen Ngoc Long. The Korean won 30-23 in 29, but was second on average.
Ngoc Tri Nguyen faced a Korean and a Japanese (Namiko Hayashi) and was treated to a cold shower. He lost both matches and finished with the best average: 1.470.
Three Dutch players couldn't match at all with all these Vietnamese and Korean highflyers. Wim van den Berg could only beat Egyptian Ahmed Emam in his second match 30-20 and finished 0.796. Raymon Groot, a four-days-surviver in the Porto World Cup, lost both matches 30-17 and 30-16 in 21 innings and 24 (0.733). Joke Breur was trumped by two Vietnamese, twice 30-7 in 18 and 19 innings (0.375). Volkan Cetin was eliminated on the first day with two losses and 0.771.
The last cry of joy in the arena came from Duc Minh Tran, who made the winning carom on a score of 29-29 against Oh Bok Cho with a Bankshot.
The referees for the World Cup in Ho Chi Minh
The top sixteen after the second day in Ho Chi Minh:
1 Quoc Thuan Pham 4-1.935-11
2 Tae Jun Oh 4-1.463-8
3 Ji Hun Ahn 4-1.428-10
4 Thanh Binh Nguyen 4-1.428-6
5 Keon Hwi Cho 4-1.428-6
6 Kien Duc Hu 4-1.363-7
7 Dae Kwon Shin 4-1.333-8
8 Young Hoon Lee 4-1.276-9
9 Bong-Soo Kim 4-1.250-6
10 Hao Tri Vo 4-1.132-6
11 An Toan Nguyen 4-1.090-7
12 Seung Gu Kang 4-1.052-8
13 Duc Minh Tran 4-1.016-4
14 Quang Hai Dinh 3-1.200-10
15 Sang Dae Lee 2-1.239-5
16 Ngoc Long Nguyen 2-1.152-8.
Most notable groups for tomorrow, Wednesday:
Group A: Vinh Ly The, Quoc Thuan Pham, Ricardo Garcia Alarcon
Group C: Semih Sayginer, Hiroshi Sasaki, Ji Hun Ahn
Group E: Birol Uymaz, Quang Hao Truong, Keon Hwi Cho
Group F: Tae Soo Lim, Yusuke Mori, Kien Duc Hua
Group H: O Takeshima, Huu Tinh Le, Young Hoon Lee
Group L: Durk Hee Hwang, Seung Gu Kang, Joel Switala
Group P: Gungor Bastunali, Tapio Soinisalo, Ngoc Long Nguyen.
