3-Cushion
NEW YORK - Would Raymond Ceulemans be a dark horse at the World championship, that will be held in Antwerp (Belgium) this year? He certainly wouldn’t. The 76-year old Belgian can still perform on world’s level, as he showed in New York this afternoon against Eddy Leppens.
Should Pedro PiedrabBuena, the Pan American champion, be afraid of a match against Semih Sayginer, one of the former champions at the international level? No, absolutely not.
Just look at the mutual meeting this afternoon in New York.
Who is actually the American Miguel Torres, the player who is the undefeated leader after three rounds in his group with Semih Sayginer and Pedro Piedrabuena?
Of course, maybe Sayginer had an off day and Piedrabuena played at his very highest level. And it’s quite possible that Ceulemans was extremely motivated after his loss against Eddy Merckx, playing against Eddy Leppens. And maybe Eddy Leppens, star player so far in the tournament, was impressed by the old master.
Miguel Torres was already very strong in the preliminaries, with a second place behind Alan Jensen. And in the final first round the American defeated Pedro Piedrabuena, therefore he is the only undefeated player in his group now.
The second session of the day was marked by some very surprising results, in any case.
Semih Sayginer suffered a painful loss against Pedro Piedrauena, who took a big lead with runs of 12 and 11 and closed the match at 40-11 in 15 innings (2.353/0.750).
Raymond Ceulemans actually did what no one expected after his poor start against Eddy Merckx. His next opponent, Eddy Leppens, the best man so far in the tournament, experienced the high class and power of the tormented Ceulemans, who balanced with his opponent until 19-17 (10) and 32-31 (18) and then attacked to the finish: 40-33 in 22 (1.818/1.500).
Miguel Torres also showed his great form against Luis Aveiga (40-27 in 24) and is the main contender to take the group win. He can also play a crucial role in the showdown of the group, when he meets Semih Sayginer.
Eddy Merckx took his fourth win in Group C with Ceulemans and Leppens. The world champion bested Mazin Shooni: 40-31 in 24.
Roland Forthomme made a misstep and lost to Allan Jensen. The Belgian missed due to a kiss, trailing 38-37 in the exciting final innings. He left an easy shot for his opponent. The Dane made his first point and played position for the winning carom: 40-37 in 26.