3-Cushion
SEOUL - On the first day of the 3CC Survival Masters in Seoul, with a new game system (four players together in one game), in a room without spectators, twelve of 24 players have qualified for the final round with sixteen. The other 12 players will show up for a second chance, tomorrow (Friday), in which four players join the knock-of. The first impressions from the players field: we had to get used to it, but the system is good: only points are counting, the averages are not important, attack is the best weapon, defending makes little sense. The new system is better than at the first 3CC Masters, when the positions were determined by MyWebsport.
Torbjörn Blomdahl and Sameh Sidhom were the first two players to qualify in the first round, followed by Jung-Han Heo, Murat Naci Coklu, Dick Jaspers, Dani Sánchez, Marco Zanetti, Jae-Ho Cho, Dong-Koong Kang, Semih Sayginer, Dinh Nai Ngo and Frédéric Caudron. Among the players who need the rematch are the Belgians Eddy Merckx and Eddy Leppens, HaengJik Kim, Quyet Chien Tran, Martin Horn, Sung Won Choi, Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, Myung Woo Cho and Tayfun Tasdemir. The twelve players who finished three and four in the first group stage, meet each other in three groups of four players on Friday.
The ranking does’nt show an insight into which averages are played. For Jung-Han Heo, for example, 8.125 is registered as the group average, for Torbjörn Blomdahl 6.944, but the real average are for Heo is 2.750, for Blomdahl 2.333.
Torbjörn Blomdahl reacted after the first day: ,,I felt very comortable from the start, because I was leading all the way. When you are behind, it might be more difficult, then the pressure is on. The system is better than the previous one in the 3CC Masters. I feel better now, because I am fit again.’’
Dick Jaspers: ,,My first feeling is that it is very special to play with four men in one match. The party can tremendously swing up and down. Just like in the McCreery event, we have no spectators, but it doesn’t matter. My level so far was not brilliant, but I'm happy with the qualification. You first have to feel the billiard to get better.’’
Marco Zanetti: ,,The game is extremely interesting for tv, because there is a lot of action. Of course it feels strange to play without an audience. A pity that we cannot see the averages of all players.’’
Sameh Sidhom: ,,The system is strange at first, but interesting. The level depends on a good start and on the positions you get. Defending does not make much sense, that’s only for the player who comes next to you.’’
Eddy Merckx: ,,The average is not important at all in this system, only the points.’’
The six group reports on the opening day:
Group A:
Torbjörn Blomdahl dominates with 125 points followed by Sameh Sidhom with 85, HaengJik Kim and Hugo Patiño with fifteen points. The game over two parts of 45 minutes was played over 8 innings before the break and ten innings after. Kim and Patiño go to the rematches.
Ranking:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 125-18-8
2 Sameh Sidhom 85-18-5
3 Hugo Patiño 15-18-4
4 HaengJik Kim 15-18-3
Group B:
Jung-Han Heo has the best start so far with 130 points in 15 innings and a run of 14. Murat Naci Coklu is a strong second man to reach the knock-out. Quyet Chien Tran, the winner of the LGU Cup, disappoints and is only fourth after a bad second part with a negative score. The Vietnamese go to the remachtes with Martin Horn.
Ranking:
1 Jung-Han Heo 130-16-14
2 Murat Naci Coklu 82-16-6
3 Martin Horn 38-16-8
4 Quyet Chien Tran -10-16-2
Group C:
Dick Jaspers leads from start to finish and makes a big gap for his three opponents: 58 against 26, 18 and 18. Dani Sánchez brings back the margin in the second half to 18 points and crosses the finish line ahead of Sung-Won Choi and Jérémy Bury. Choi and Bury are playing in the rematches.
Ranking:
1 Dick Jaspers 84-18-5
2 Dani Sánchez 56-18-6
3 Sung-Won Choi 52-18-5
4 Jérémy Bury 48-18-7
The matches for a second chance:
14.00: Nguyen QN, Horn, Polychronopoulos, Tran QC
16.00: Merckx, Bury, Tasdemir, Patino
19.00: Choi SW, MW Cho, Leppens, HJ Kim
Group D:
Marco Zanetti, playing with dark glasses again, is sovereign from the start and ends up twenty points ahead of his main rivals Cho and Nguyen. At the break, the Italian has a big margin of 61 against 5, 25 and 29. The Korean and Vietnamese both finish at 62 points and have to play a shoot-out who is the second behind Zanetti. Cho starts the break with 5, Nguyen scores 3 times.
Ranking:
1 Marco Zanetti 82-15-5
2 Jae-Ho Cho 62-15-6
3 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 62-15-5
4 Nikos Polychronopoulos 34-15-5.
Group E:
The main role is for Dong-Koong Kang. Eddy Merckx still leads the group halfway with 49 points against 29, 25 and 17, but can’t continue in the second part. The two Belgians lack the direct qualification in favour of Dong-Koong Kang and Semih Sayginer.
Ranking:
1 Dong-Koong Kang 93-15-9
2 Semih Sayginer 61-15-5
3 Eddy Merckx 57-15-5
4 Eddy Leppens 29-15-6.
Group F:
Dinh Nai Ngo is the best from the start with a nice 100 points score. Frédéric Caudron is always behind, but can pass Myung-Woo Cho in the final sprint with 5: 56 against 52. Cho and Tasdemir play in the rematches.
Ranking:
1 Dinh Nai Ngo 100-15-10
2 Frédéric Caudron 56-15-5
3 Myung-Woo Cho 52-15-4
4 Tayfun Tasdemir 32-15-5.
