3-Cushion
PELOPONNESOS – It was the first time he was under pressure in this tournament, and the second time in his career he was involved in a shoot-out. Torbjörn Blomdahl escaped by the skin of his teeth, and he smiled with relief after his photo finish victory over 31-year old Vietnamese Quyet Chien Tran.
Filippos Kasidokostas, Ruben Legazpi and Tayfun Tasdemir (shoot-out against Sung Won Choi) also advanced to the semifinals.
The world nr. 1, Torbjörn Blomdahl, played a strange match that started off with runs of 4, 8, 6 and 7, to give him a 29-5 lead after just 6 innings. In view of the Swede strong frontrunner reputation, that would normally mean: one more dash to the finish, pack up the gear and prepare for the semi.
Nothing could have been further from the truth.
The shy, friendly Vietnamese player, on his first trip to Europe, had never before played against the great Blomdahl. On the first day, he had won a shoot-out against Dani Sanchez, and suddenly found back that form. He clawed his way into the match, ran six, and seven, and eight...
His opponent produced no less than nine misses in eleven innings, and Tran was alive again. He even had the lead (34-38), but then Blomdahl ran six and out. Quyet Chien Tran needed three points from the spots, and calmly put those on the scoreboard: 40-40.
A penalty shoot-out was necessary, and Blomdahl later said he only ever played one of those in his career( v. Raymond Ceulemans, 2-1). The Swede started, made the break, was a bit lucky with a kiss that gave him position, also made the third but missed the fourth. The Vietnamese only made two, his third point ended in a kiss. The winner celebrated with no more than a smile, the loser was of course disappointed, but rightfully proud of his European debut.
Torbjörn Blomdahl is now the only player from the top 12 who is still in the tournament tomorrow. The Swede will take on Filippos Kasidokostas, the only home player. The Greek played a strong match against Jae Guen Kim (40-20 in 16 innings, the best match of the round).
Ruben Legazpi marched on in the quarter finals, making him one of the revelations of the Greek world cup. Feared Korean Dong Koong Kang, winner in Guri, was outplayed in the opening and never recovered. The tall man from Madrid shone more by the hour and won 40-21 in 19 innings.
Tayfun Tasdemir and Sung-Won Choi closed of proceedings for the day, with another shoot-out. The Turk first equalized with three, and again ran three from the spots after the Korean had only produced two points. His confident, difficult and beautiful third point earned him a place in tomorrow’s semifinal.
The line-up:
11.00: Blomdahl-Kasidokostas
13.00: Tasdemir-Legazpi.