3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - The world champion was not unbeatable, the challenger refused to strike. Haeng Jik Kim never showed the shape in which he was on the first day against Javier Palazón, but he could defeat Cédric Melnytschenko this afternoon, because the French player had to many bad moments in the match. The Korean is the leader in the poule now with four matchpoints, Javier Palazón kept his hope alive thanks to an easy victory over Eric Tromas.
Cédric Melnytschenko had a good start against Kim, but lost his rhythm at the half way point. The 9-0 Frenchman had an adventage of 9-0 after two innings, than only produced one point in eight innings and saw the Korean, who made a run of seven in the eighteenth inning, come back in the 22th inning: 27-26.
The young Kim was a little upset by his bad start, sometimes looking desperated to his countrymen in the tribunes, but then walked away from his opponent. Melnytschenko again had six misses in the final and lost the match 40-33 in 33 innings.
Javier Palazón is back in the qualification round, but still needs some work. The match could not attract, because Eric Tromas never played on his level. With fifteen misses in 24 innings, he only finished on 23 points.
The crucial match tomorrow is on the program. Javier Palazón and Cédric Melnytschenko will meet at 14.00. The winner goes to the next qualification. Two countrymen of Palazón, th world champion Dani Sánchez and Ruben Legazpi, were eliminated in the first qualification round. The Spanish bronze medal of the World championship has to defend a mission tomorrow.