3-Cushion
PELOPONNESOS - Six players from the top ten at the world ranking didn’t survive the first round in the World Cup in Pelopennosos. Frédéric Caudron was the last in the evening session that did not make it for the next round: he was beaten by Turkish stuntman Savas Bulut. Jérémy Bury, Eddy Merckx, Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez and Kyung Roul Kim also were topped by their opponents, two of them in a thrilling match, at least two of them with highs and downs.
The top ten on the ranking therefor will be heavily under pressure. Torbjörn Blomdahl and Marco Zanetti could go for a good sleep after their shining victory. Dong Koong Kang continued his winning streak with a victory over Dick Jaspers.
Frédéric Caudron forgot to score the winning points at the end of the match against Savas Bulut, who tormented the champion and then bested him with a three run to the finish. Caudron’s lead with 23-16 was wiped out by the Turk, who played a curious preliminary, with two draws in the group. He was qualified with the best average.
Caudron finally went for a match point, but he missed. Then, Bulut took, in a breathtaking atmosphere, the most glorious win in his career so far.
Dani Sánchez may cheer for his two young billiard friends in the next round, Ruben Legazpi and Javier Palazón, who defend the honor of the country. In the mainly Korean tinted the two Spanish players catched up for the win in style. Ruben Legazpi was even the best of the day against Jin Pyo Hong, just like Tayfun Tasdemir with a win in sixteen innings. The Korean Hong followed Legazpi until 14-13 in five, then the Spaniard made the gap with runs of 8 , 7 and 5 in the middle part and he finished with five (40-31 in 15).
Javier Palazón outplayed one of the Greeks, the experienced Kostas Papakonstantinou, who stumbled three points from the gain (40-37). Nikos Polychronopoulos made a stunning comeback after the promising start of Kyung Roul Kim (run 12, 18-8 lead). With a fourteen run, Polychronopoulos grew to his best. At 39-29 he scored the match ball under the cheers of the home crowd.
Besides Eddy Merckx, earlier on the day, Dick Jaspers also was knocked down in the evening session. The Dutchman went through the naked truth in his match against one of the Koreans. Dong Koong Kang , winner of the World Cup in Korea, bested him in a curious match, in which Jaspers ran 13 and 10, but lacked a strong final sprint to beat the Korean: 40-37 in 28.
The matches for tomorrow’s next round:
11:00:
Blomdahl-Heo
Palazón - Tran
Kasidokostas - Lee
Cho - Jae Guen Kim
13:30:
Zanetti - Legazpi
Kang - Christiani
Choi - Polychronopoulos
Tasdemir - Bulut.