3-Cushion
PORTO - They were on the rise in spectacular fashion, the Vietnamese. Three players on the podium, in the Ho Chi Minh World Cup. Two events later, and the Porto organization receives a message from Asia: the Vietnamese players will not participate in Portugal, because they could not obtain visa. No Quyet Chien Tran, Xuang Cuong Ma, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Dinh Nai Ngo and no other Vietnamese contenders in Porto, the fourth World Cup of the year. The question that comes to mind: how can this happen in a global sport such as 3-cushion?
The Vietnamese official wrote a short note to the UMB:
,,Dear Mr. Barki. We are very sorry we can't come to Porto. The Portuguese embassy in Thailand did not issue visa. We are very sad, but our efforts have failed. We want to ask you to apologize on our behalf, to all the other players.'' Then, a further explanation: ,,We returned from the World Cup in Blankenberge, and there was not enough time to apply for visa to Portugal. We could not do this any sooner: if we apply for visa, we must check in our passport. And we needed those in order to play in Belgium.''
The second-to last qualification day now had six open spots, going to players on the reserve list. Korean Sung Uk Oh and Wan Young Choi (4 points, 1,818) topped the list of winners. Jean Paul de Bruijn, with his monster second match in 7 innings, had the high average of the day, 2 points and 2.285. His recovery was remarkable, after a first defeat against Alp from Turkey with 30-18 in 14. The second Turkish opponent, Tolgahan Kiraz, was blasted off the table by the Dutchman: 0-0-12-7-2-0-9, 30-5 in 7.
Dion Nelin, having lost to Shin 30-29, aslo bounced back when he played Barry van Beers: 30-15 in 10. It brought him to third place in the runners-up list, behind Murat Tüzül and David Zapata, ahead of lucky losers Chi Yeon Cho and Ahmet Alp, from the flights of Jean Paul de Bruijn and Jef Philipoom.
Therese Klompenhouwer, the leading lady of 3-cushion, had one of her best World Cup performances in years. She started with a win over Carlos Crespo, 30-17 in 22, then a victory over Hideaki Kobayashi: 30-21 in 24. It gave her 8th place in the winner's list, with an average of 1.304. Tomorrow, in the last qualification round, she will have two more strong opponents: Eddy Leppens and Birol Uymaz. ,,For the first time in a long time, I was able to clear my head, it feels great'', she said. ,,I am looking forward to Thursday. It's a tough group, but I have nothing to lose.''
Martin Horn ended first in a very dangerous flight after beating Arnim Kahofer and Jef Philipoom. The Belgian, who added three points in the equalizer against Horn (30-20 in 18) held the red lantern as sixth player on the reserve list. Glenn Hofman was first listed in tomorrow's schedule as well (as 7th reserve) but he was later removed because Korean Cho had been overlooked.
Yusuke Mori and Jung-Ju Shin had four points and 1.463 and 1.395 respectively, as youngsters in the top-16. Filippos Kasidokostas recorded an excellent 1.875 (second highest after de Bruijn), but he had to dig deep to qualify: a final run of six to equalize against Tüzül. Dustin Jäschke confirmed that he is on the way up, with his wins over Pennör and Gungor.
The day ranking for Wednesday:
1 Sung Uk Oh 4-1.818-7
2 Wan Young Choi 4-1.818-7
3 Murat Celik 4-1.714-7
4 Martin Horn 4-1.463-7
5 Yusuke Mori 4-1.428-7
6 Jung-Ju Shin 4-1.395-6
7 Dustin Jäschke 4-1.333-7
8 Therese Klompenhouwer 4-1.304-7
9 Kostas Papakonstantinou 4-1.224-6
10 José Maria Mas 4-1.111-14
11 Filippos Kasidokostas 3-1.875-7
12 Thomas Andersen 3-1.428-13
13 Gökhan Salman 3-1.224
14 Jean Paul de Bruijn 2-2.285-12
15 Young Hoon Lee 2-1.567-11
16 Mehmet Goren 2-1.020-8.
Reserve list:
1 Murat Tüzül 3-1.304-9
2 David Zapata 2-1.812-11
3 Dion Nelin 2-1.787-8
4 Chi Yeon Cho 2-1.766-4
5 Ahmet Alp 2-1.636-7
6 Jef Philipoom 2-1.470-11
The groups for the final day of qualifying:
Group A: Murat Tüzül, Gökhan Salman, Thomas Andersen
Group B: Jean Paul de Bruijn, Filippos Kasidokostas, Dong-Koong Kang
Group C: Young Hoon Lee, David Zapata, José Maria Mas
Group D: Dion Nelin, Mehmet Gören, Kostas Papakonstantinou
Group E: Eddy Leppens, Birol Uymaz, Therese Klompenhouwer
Group F: Tayfun Tasdemir, Jae-Guen Kim, Dustin Jäschke
Group G: Tonny Carlsen, Lütfi Cenet, Jung-Ju Shin
Group H: Semih Sayginer, Seung Jin Lee, Yusuke Mori
Group I: Adnan Yüksel, David Martinez, Martin Horn
Group J: Roland Forthomme, Javier Palazón, Murat Celik
Group K: Chi Yeon Cho, Wan Young Choi, Jef Philipoom
Group L: Can Capak, Ahmet Alp, Sung Uk Oh.
de Bruijn: magnificent second match in 7 innings
Tüzül: best of the six runners-up
Philipoom: the last of the six lucky losers
Kasidokostas: 1.875 with his "wrong" hand
Horn: safely through from a dangerous group
Jäschke: wins over Pennör and Gungor
Hofman: thought he was in, then he was out