3-Cushion
Two Europeans and two Asians meet in the final battle at the second OneCarom Challenge in the winter series. Torbjörn Blomdahl was sovereign in his group with Sung-Won Choi as the runner-up. Semih Sayginer sprinted in the last innings over Dinh Nai Ngo to group victory. The Swedish world champion achieved the best score: 111 (3,700 on average), Sayginer was not far below the top score thanks to a strong final run, 11: that brought him to 108 (3,600). The four finalists take a shot at the victory on Thursday 29 and Friday 30 October in two match with four players at the same time, at 14.00 West European time (22.00 in Vietnam and Korea).
Jérémy Bury, not in his best form over two days, finished his last match with a final run of 12, but came two points short in his final sprint to pass Korean Choi for a place in final rounds. The Frenchman saved the best for last, like also Dani Sánchez gave his ultimate day a little more shine after two poor days. Vietnamese Nguyen Quoc Nguyen made one more desperate attempt, but ended up with 94 points, following the 'hundred point players' in this group: Sayginer and Ngo.
The Dutch women's star Therese Klompenhouwer was impressive and remained for long in the footsteps of Choi and Bury in her group. She finished last, just like Dani Sánchez in the other group, with 73 points and 2,433 on average. That score made her proudly looking back on her performance.
The best score on the last day of the preliminary rounds came from Sayginer with 38 points. The Turk changed top position with Dinh Nai Ngo in the very last part. The Vietnamese led 93-92 in a neck-and-neck race shortly before the end. When the two leading positions were not in danger anymore, Sayginer sprinted over the finish without any pressure.
The final rankings:
Group A:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 111 (3,700)
2 Sung-Won Choi 90 (3,000)
3 Jérémy Bury 88 (2,933)
4 Therese Klompenhouwer 73 (2,433).
Group B:
1 Semih Sayginer 108 (3,600)
2 Dinh Nai Ngo 101 (3,366)
3 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 94 (3,133)
4 Dani Sánchez 73 (2,433).
The final round:
Thursday 2 pm and Friday 2 pm (both times ten innings):
Blomdahl-Sayginer-Cho-Ngo.