3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - There is no tension anymore in the battle for two top spots in Group 2: Nikos Polychronopoulos and Eddy Leppens have qualified and play in their final match against each other for the group win. Both the Belgian and Greek have six points out of three games, wich means they will return for next round.
Most remarkable was Eddy Leppens' ressurection in these preliminaries. His first match against the young Portuguese Joao Ferreira was dramatic with 50 points in 53 innings. ,,I even started with 10 points in 30 innings, I would say, usually it is the other way round, 30 in 10 innings.''
The confidence was gone for a moment, but with the form Leppens shows already for weeks, he rapidly recovered and defeated the Vietnamese Xuan Cuong Ma in the first round this morning 50-23 in 21 and a hig run of twelve.
Nikos Polychronopoulos, who was off in this round, now has certainly qualified as well. The Greek from Athens won his three matches like Leppens: the two leaders will meet tonight at 17.00 for the showdown of the group.
Joao Ferreira won his first and only game. He defeated Jérôme Barbeillon, the likeable Frenchman, who last week glittered with a tournament victory in Laxou in a final against Jérémy Bury, but things went belly up for him in this sessions of the Masters.
The Portuguese took the win 50-24 in 41 innings, a promising end in any case for the young talented player.