3-Cushion
ISTANBUL - The elimination of the last Turkish player in the tournament, Semih Sayginer, was the anti-climax of the day. The Survival Masters in Istanbul enter the final day tomorrow, Saturday, without Turkish home players. The curtains not only were closed for the great champions Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez and Sung-Won Choi, but in order of appearance as well for Lütfi Cenet, Tayfun Tasdemir, Semih Sayginer and Turgay Orak. The best winners in the quarterfinals were Eddy Merckx and Jae-Ho Cho with 109 and 102 points.
Dion Nelin was the stuntman on the penultimate day. The 43-year-old Dane felt in a bad position in his match after a poor start, but started a fantastic attack after the stop. The run of 15 (best of the day), followed by 4, brought Nelin back into the battle and eventually he finished as the runner up in his group won by Jae-Ho Cho. "I can't say how happy I fee," he said in the evening during a walk around in Istanbul with Dick Jaspers, who missed the qualification.
Dion Nelin is on his way back to the top in one year, after a stop-and-go in his career. ''I got the chance to live as a professional for my sport from Dan Johansen, a businessman from the company Sehard Painting, also Roland Forthomme's sponsor and a good friend, with a two years contract. So, I stopped working and want to seize that opportunity.'' The number two at the World championship in his home land in 2002, where Marco Zanetti won, is 21st now on the world ranking after only one year. ''I made the climb pretty fast, but I want to get further. The World championship is in Randers again this year, as in 2002, and I can only win ranking points there."
The lights in the Istanbul arena went out on Friday evening with a bitter aftertaste for the Turkish home crowd. Semih Sayginer, well on his way to finish as the runner-up behind Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran, ran into a flashy final shot of HaengJik Kim in the very last minutes. The Korean needed exactly seven caroms in his last attempt to escape and showed his very best at that crucial moment.
The outcome of the four matches in the quarterfinals led to a Korean-colored battle and a match in which the Belgians Eddy Merckx and Roland Forthomme once again face each other.
The following lines-up were announced for the semi-finals (Turkish times):
13.00: Eddy Merckx-Quyet Chien Tran-Dion Nelin-Roland Forthomme
15.00: Jae-Ho Cho, Myung-Woo Cho-Torbjörn Blomdahl-HaengJik Kim.
The overview of the quarterfinals on Friday:
MW Cho-Blomdahl-Sánchez-Jaspers
The competition in which three famous three-cushion guns are dominated by a 20-year-old coming man. Myung-Woo Cho, without any fear for so many world title holders in one match, continues to show his huge talent. The Korean is on his way to victory long before the end of the match. It's all about who will join Cho to the semi-finals: Torbjörn Blomdahl, Dick Jaspers or Dani Sánchez? Cho leads 68 (runs 9 and 8) at the break ahead of Blomdahl with 20 and Jaspers/Sánchez with 16. The Korean lead holds on, Blomdahl opens his attack with 8 and ends as the runner-up. Sánchez and Jaspers are left behind, because the big runs are not coming.
The final ranking:
1 Myung-Woo Cho 88-2,062-9
2 Torbjörn Blomdahl 76-1,875-8
3 Dani Sánchez 40-1,312-4
4 Dick Jaspers 36-1,250-5
Myung-Woo Cho, the nr 1 in a match with three world champions
JH Cho-Nelin-Choi-Cenet
The first lead is for Sung-Won Choi, starting 2-8-2. Dion Nelin opens with four misses in his first five innings and is on the 'zero line' at the break. The Dane has a terrifying start in the second part with a run of 15 (!), followed by 3 and 4, moving up to second place behind Jae-Ho Cho. The Korean takes the group win by runs of 9 and 4 before the break and 10 right after the break. That brings him to a generous profit with 102 points and 2,600 on average.
The final ranking:
1 Jae-Ho Cho 102-2,600-10
2 Dion Nelin 82-2,266-15
3 Sung-Won Choi 58-1,866-8
4 Lütfi Cenet -2-0,866-6
Jae-Ho Cho and Dion Nelin shake hands after the match
Dion Nelin, stuntman after the stop
Merckx-Forthomme-Tasdemir-Horn
The Belgian tandem Merckx/Forthomme sprint out their opponents Martin Horn and Tayfun Tasdemir with an outstanding Eddy Merckx in the second part. Forthomme has the best start with 6, Merckx starts with three times 0, but runs into the break with 8 and 7 to a score of 53 against 41 for Horn. With the two Belgians leading all the way, Tasdemir makes another attempt to come back with 8 and 5, but it is not enough. With 109, Eddy Merckx achieved the best score of the four games.
The final ranking:
1 Eddy Merckx 109-2,533-8
2 Roland Forthomme 57-1,766-6
3 Tayfun Tasdemir 45-1,466-7
4 Martin Horn 29-1,200-5
The Belgian winners Eddy Merckx (r) and Roland Forthomme (l)
Tran-Kim-Sayginer-Orak
HaengJik Kim's final jump is knocking down Semih Sayginer to the finish line. Quyet Chien Tran, with 83 points, has assured the group win, Sayginer and Kim enter the last inning with a huge tension and the Turk in a favorable position. He leads with 76 before Kim with 50 when only the young Korean has to go to the table for his last attempt. The audience holds its breath: Kim starts his final sprint, scores 3 times, 5 times and only misses after 7 points, which is right enough to finish second with 68 against 66 for Semih. The Korean sinks down in his chair with a big smile, Sayginer feels unlucky and has to leave the event.
The final ranking:
1 Quyet Chien Tran 83-1,705-6
2 HaengJik Kim 68-1,470-7
3 Semih Sayginer 66-1,470-10
4 Turgay Orak 23-0,812-4.
Quyet Chien Tran, best in the match with HaengJik Kim (2) and Semih Sayginer (3)