3-Cushion
HURGHADA - The end of an exciting afternoon was just as special as bizarre. Torbörn Blomdahl had been disappeared already after losing his match against Adnan Yüksel (3-2, 15-14 last set). Frédéric Caudron fought for his last chances against Eddy Leppens in an audience with a lot of Belgians in the tribunes. When the Belgian meeting would end in a loss for Caudron, the invisible Torbjörn Blomdahl would win the World Cup.
The Swede indeed kept the lead in the World Cup, with wich he started the tournament, despite of his own loss against Yüksel. The gap with Caudron remained the same, because both players were eliminated in the same round. Dani Sánchez, who also had a minimal chance, was already out after his loss against the Colombian Andres Naranjo.
The battle for the World Cup continues in Hurghada, only the overall title goes to Torbjön Blomdahl. ,,I see it as the most wonderful title in my whole career,'' he said, because the level of the players has been increased so much. ,, I won my last World Cup in 2007, but now we have so many top players in the world, who can play much higher averages.''
That was seen on this penultimate day of the tournament in Hurghada, when Adnan Yüksel not only defeated Blomdahl, but also made a run of fifteen (the second in this tournament after Kim). Frédéric Caudron also stumbled over a player who doesn't even belongs to the top twelve. Eddy Leppens nevertheless is a player, who was second in the World championship two years ago and he's always able to play between 1.500 and 2.000.
He had a visible difficulty beating Frédéric Caudron, one of his greatest friends, because therefore Caudron would miss the World Cup. ,,I don't know when I won for the last time against Fred, because he always beats me, so obviously I'm happy with this win, although for him this is a bad moment.''
Frédéric Caudron left the tournament with a sense of disappointment, but also of pride. Would it ever have been happened that a player made three runs over ten in three sets? Caudron did it last night in his first match against Xuang Cuon Ma, in which he produced runs of fourteen, twelve and ten. ,,I can't remember that it ever happened,'' said Dick Jaspers.
Anyway, the level was already high and still increased in the eighth finals today. Caudron and Kim (3.000 and even 3.103) were the main stars on that first day, Jérémy Bury and Sung Won Choi had a peak today with 3.000 (Choi) and 2.631 (Bury).
Jérémy Bury defeated Marco Zanetti, Sung Won Choi blowed Andres Naranjo off the table. In the second session there were the wins in two matches with a lot of tension for Yüksel against Blomdahl and Leppens against Caudron.
Peter de Backer forced himself a way to the quarters against Chung Bok Lee, whom he defeated 3-2, not with a lot of quality, but in a hugely exciting match. The Belgians made the gesture of a football player who just had scored a hattrick at the end. ,,I need a big fight, then I'm at my best,'' De Backer said with his warm smile.
Martin Horn had to go ultimately deep against Murat Naci Coklu. The battle was decided when two players were struggling for the World Cup on the other tables. The Germans won the match, showed his fighting spirit and superb technique and can be seen as one of the major contender to win the Hurghada World Cup.