3-Cushion
ANTALYA – The look in his eyes was filled with the ambition of a player on a mission. Roland Forthomme won the Belgian title last month in Blankenberge, was overjoyed with it and said: ,,I hope for a fresh start, more success, because I have been away from the top of the rankings for too long.’’
So watch out, Roland Forthomme is coming and he is ready. His World record run of 28 announced his comeback, then he beat Eddy Merckx in the semi and Eddy Leppens in the final of the Belgian nationals.
Today, in the last qualifying round of the World Cup in Antalya, a briliant Forthomme was once again at the table. First against the Greek Kostas Papakonstantinou (40-28 in 19), then against Javier Teran, a surprisingly strong opponent from Ecuador.
But Forthomme was not to be denied: he powered through the home straight to win 40-36 in 17 innings, in a match that had everything. Fantastic runs of 14 (Forthomme) and 12 (Teran) brought the Turkish crowd to their feet.
The Belgian is the best of the qualifiers, with twelve going to the main draw by right, and 4 best nrs 2 coming in through the back door, to complete the field of 32. A nice consolation price for Teran, who recorded the best average of all the nrs. 2 (2.000). Lütfi Cenet, Durk Hee Hwang and Javier Palazón also benefitted from the new system of fewer wild cards.
Lütfi Cenet, who is on the threshold of a top-12 position, will have been happy with the new rule. The Turk, who made quite an impression in the Agipi Masters, came from far behind in his second group match against Murat Tüzül (21-9), but still needed the equalizing inning for his final point, and a draw.
Javier Palazón lost his second match against Martin Horn (40-36), but also proceeded, thanks to his general average of 1.551. Luis Aveiga had a bad start, but recovered against Korean Choong-Bok (40-31 in 25) and now has a place in the knockout round.
Sameh Sidhom keeps progressing year by year, and this time shone with strong performances against Ronny Lindemann and Hyun-Suk Kim (1.632 for the Egyptian). Nikos Polychronopoulos dealt with the Young Spaniard Juan David Zapata and with Remzi Yurt. Dong Koong Kang was not at his best, but he did enough to end ahead of José Maria Mas and Jérôme Barbeillon.
Hyung Bum Hwang had a better finish against both Arnim Kahofer and Eddy Leppens. The Belgian disappointed with a third place in his group.
Jean Paul de Bruijn was head and shoulders the best player of his flight, and won twice: 40-17 against Jef Philipoom and a 1.509 general average. Durk Hee Hwang had a majestic start (2.857), but struggled in his second match against Savas Bulut. The Turk won his flight with 1.176, Hwang was an excellent second with 1.675.
The draw for the main tournament is as follows:
Frédéric Caudron-Ahmet Alp
Adnan Yüksel-Jae Ho Cho
Marco Zanetti-Durk Hee Hwang
Javier Teran-Dick Jasplers
Jérémy Bury-Nikos Polychronopoulos
Lütfi Cenet-Martin Horn
Jean Paul de Bruijn-Javier Palazón
Dave Christiani-Dani Sánchez
Eddy Merckx-O Takeshima
Hyung Bum Hwang-Murat Naci Coklu
Sameh Sidhom-Savas Bulut
Tayfun Tasdemir-Sung-Won Choi
Kyung Roul Kim-Dong Koon Kang
Luis Aveiga-Filippos Kasidokostas
Roland Forthomme-Murat Tüzül
Merlin Romero-Torbjörn Blomdahl.