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Yusuke Mori has made a name for himself

07/13/2018

Published by frits bakker

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Is Yusuke Mori the new hope for Japan?

SEOUL - The 25 year young Japanese Yusuke Mori could not believe his eyes as he watched the score board. In the arena with a battery of Korean tv cameras, recording every shot, the fairly unknown player had the match of a lifetime. On the second day of the 3CC World Masters he beat world champion Frédéric Caudron in a match that he dominated from start to finish: 49-38. Do we finally have a player to fill the shoes of the legendary Nobuaki Kobayashi and Junichi Komori? Two of the best players in the world are already out of the Seoul tournament, having lost both their matches: Frédéric Caudron and Dick Jaspers. Yusuke Mori is in the final sixteen, thanks to his win over Caudron.

On the last day of qualifications, Marco Zanetti played the best match so far. His quick start against Eddy Leppens with runs of 11 and 7 helped the Italian to a final score of 70 points in 20 innings. He took Tayfun Tasdemir's 66 out of the books and eased into the knockout stage. Zanetti had a critical remark afterwards:  ,,I played with perfect feel, but the clock is an actual handicap. You have constantly to watch the board, because 30 seconds is not enough to assess positions and judge the speed. I am a billiard player, but here a feel like a runner.''

The top of the ranking after two days showed high averages: Tayfun Tasdemir on 2.650, Marco Zanetti 2.450, Murat Naci Coklu and Dani Sánchez both on 2.250.

The first round of knock-out play on Saturday:

11.00:
Tasdemir-Polychronopoulos
Sidhom-Mori
13.00:
Coklu-Nguyen
Sánchez-Leppens
15.00:
Heo-Martinez
Blomdahl-Tran
17.00:
Merckx-Bury
Zanetti-Ma

Yusuke Mori's resume is still blank, his admiration for Frédéric Caudron boundless. ,,I have played the World championship for juniors eight times and never been on the podium'', he said after his famous victory today. Mori represented Japan on the team event in Viersen this year for the first time. He played Caudron and got handsomely beaten. But his second encounter with the Belgian made up for it. Two runs of seven in the middle of the match made all the difference. From 38-21 after 13 innings, Mori was not threatened anymore by his illustrious opponent.

Yusuke Mori could be a new star on the global scene. The son of Japanese ex-champion Yoicho Mori grew up in his dad's billiard club in a Tokyo suburb.  ,,My father was Japanese champion in 1-cushion eight times, and in 3-cushion once'' says Yusuke in the stands of the 3CC Masters, while getting congratulated by Spaniards Dani Sánchez and David Martinez.

The progression of the Japanese player, who went to school until he was 18 and then put all his eggs in the billiards basket, took off after he spent a year in South Korea to have daily lessons from Jae Ho Cho. ,,My average suddenly skyrocketed.'' The win over the world champion, treated to spontaneous applause from Mori after a spectacular long draw shot, just fell out of the sky. He instantly validated his wild card and made a name for himself. His victim in that sensational match, Frédéric Caudron, also lost to Minh Cam Ma in the evening session, and (like Jaspers) is out of the event.

The Turkish tandem of Tasdemir/Coklu was dominant in the early rounds, whereas Dick Jaspers and Semih Sayginer were the first favorites to get eliminated. Tayfun Tasdemir won his group with four match points and 2.650 average, in one of the most dangerous groups. Jung-Han Heo, having scored 2.450, pushed Dick Jaspers into third and last place with a 43-32 win. Murat Naci Coklu also had four match points in his group, and a 2.250 average, ahead of David Martinez with two points and 2.155. Sung-Won Choi was third and last with a disappointing 1.325. Coklu, in his match against Martinez, improved Tasdemir's high run of 15 with a 16 in the 18th inning and won 54-28.

Marco Zanetti had a poor start against Chi Yeon Cho (28-16) but adapted quickly to the demands of the format. There was no pressure, because he was certain to advance. He had a rocket start against Eddy Leppens: 27-7 in 7 and 44-12 in de tenth inning, thanks to a run of 11. Leppens meanwhile, needed to stay ahead of Cho with a better than 1 average. Zanetti kept scoring consistently in the second half of the match and averaged no less than 3.500.

Among the best winners was Dani Sánchez with four points and 2.250, after a big win over Nikos Polychronopoulos: 46-19. Roland Forthomme had two losses, but a slightly better average than the Greek: 1.425 against 1.375.

Blomdahl and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen decided who would win the group, and it went to the Swede after a decisive runoff 13: 45-23. Both Blomdahl and Nguyen were safely into the next round, with Sayginer being eliminated on the first day.

Eddy Merckx was the last man standing on day two, after a narrow win over Jérémy Bury (37-35), which made him group winner. Sameh Sidhom beat Quyet Chien Tran in the third match of the group (36-33), where Dinh Nai Ngo had already been eliminated after two losses.

The group standings after the preliminaries:

Group A:
1 Minh Cam Ma 4-1.475-8
2 Yusuke Mori 2-1.750-7
3 Frédéric Caudron 0-1.575-6

Group B:
1 Eddy Merckx 4-1.875-9
2 Jérémy Bury 2-1.700-8
3 Wan Young Choi 0-1.250-5

Group C:
1 Marco Zanetti 4-2.450-11
2 Eddy Leppens 1-1.625-7
3 Chi Yeon Cho 1-1.125-4

Group D:
1 Dani Sánchez 4-2.250-9
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 2-1.375-8
3 Roland Forthomme 0-1.425-7

Group E:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 4-1.875-13
2 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 2-1.575-10
3 Semih Sayginer 0-1.275-8

Group F:
1 Murat Naci Coklu 4-2.250-16
2 David Martinez 2-1.550-6
3 Sung-Won Choi 0-1.325-5

Group G:
1 Tayfun Tasdemir 4-2.650-15
2 Jung-Han Heo 2-2.450-9
3 Dick Jaspers 0-1.725-9

Group H:
1 Sameh Sidhom 4-1.875-7
2 Quyet Chien Tran 2-1.625-7
3 Dinh Nai Ngo 0-1.300-5.

 

 

Tasdemir: best average in the group stage

Zanetti: best match so far

Coklu: now faces Nguyen

Merckx: a narrow win over Bury

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