3-Cushion
VIERSEN - The battle for the 32nd world title three-cushion for national teams turns into a final with seven European countries and South Korea. The ranking after the pre-rounds was led by the Koreans, followed by Belgium, Turkey and the Netherlands. The matches for the quarterfinals, in which a knockout is played, are South Korea-France (20.00), Belgium-Austria (20.00), Turkey-Germany (17.00) and the Netherlands-Denmark (17.00). The unbeaten group winners were the Koreans (six points, 2.222), the Belgians (six points, 1.578) and the Turks (six points, 1.481).
The fourth group victory went to the Netherlands, last day's record holder that had to bow deeply to Austria in its last match. Arnim Kahofer and Andreas Efler secured the qualification by a strong performance against Dick Jaspers and Jean Paul de Bruijn. Two runs, 14 in the fourth inning and 7 in the seventh inning, were decisive for a comfortable win: 40-26 in fifteen innings. That was the second best win from the preliminaries.
The two Austrians hugged each other after the match to celebrate the qualification. ,,This is wonderful for our country to be among the best eight again'', Kahofer said later. ,,The mission to beat the Netherlands is not easy, but the match was in our favour.'' Andreas Efler: ,,With the two high runs we were able to take a good lead. We got confidence in our game and then finished it off well.'' The Dutch were out of chance in this match. ,,We served each other only bad position, it all went wrong for us'', Jean Paul de Bruijn concluded.
The last qualification for the quarters went to France after a tough, but riant victory over Lebanon (40-20 in 39). Jérôme Barbeillon and Cédric Melnytschenko were on the podium last year after losing in the semi-final against South Korea. That is now the opponent in the quarters this Saturday night. The young Egyptian team (Sidhom/Abdin) was defeated in its last match by Ecuador, that played his best game of the tournament. Javier Teran and Luis Aveiga took the win 40-24 in 22.
The South Americans (Peru, Ecuador and Colombia), the other Asians (Vietnam, Japan, Lebanon), the only African country, Egypt, and Greece were eliminated in the pre-rounds. That was especially for Colombia, a famous country in three cushion, a huge deception. Robinson Morales and Fernando Diaz played far below their normal level. Vietnam started with two World Cup stars: the Asian champion Nguyen Quoc Nguyen and Quyet Chien Tran. They beat in the group with South Korea and Denmark just Greece, the team that lost all its matches. Only Ecuador, Vietnam and Egypt finished above one average of the countries that are out.
The two Lebanese debutants on the global stage could look back on a beautiful experience. George Ltief and Yasser Shehayeb, from a country with 72 registered billiard players, had no chance in the last match against France. ,,This is our first international experience with Lebanon'', Ltief commented after the match. ,,I have played only twice outside Lebanon, in New York and at the Asian indoor Olympics, where I came third and beat Haeng-Jik Kim.'' Yasser Shehayeb is the champion of his country.
The final positions in the groups:
Group A:
1 Belgium 3-6-1.579-8
2 France 3-4-1.112-8
3 Japan 3-2-0.967-5
4 Lebanon 3-0-0.817-5
Group B:
1 Netherlands 3-4-2.078-9
2 Austria 3-4-1.255-14
3 Egypt 3-2-1.186-8
4 Ecuador 3-2-1.135-8
Group C:
1 South Korea 3-6-2.222-10
2 Denmark 3-4-1.486-10
3 Vietnam 3-2-1.158-7
4 Greece 3-0-0.944-6
Group D:
1 Turkey 3-6-1.481-11
2 Germany 3-4-1.312-12
3 Peru 3-2-0.806-4
4 Colombia 3-0-0.793-5.
The Belgians Caudron and Philipoom, second on the ranking after the pre-rounds
Andreas Efler and Arnim Kahofer in a hug after the match
The Dutch Jean Paul de Bruijn and Dick Jaspers: no chance against Austria
Sameh Sidhom and Mohamed Abdin were outplayed by Ecuador
The Lebanons Yasser Shehayeb and George Ltief, first time, great experience