Veghel, October 26th 2019.
The 2019 Veghel World Cup will be remembered as one of the most unpredictable in history. Out of four unlikely semifinalists, Haeng Jik Kim was the one on the highest step of the rostrum on Saturday evening: he denied Turkey’s Lütfi Cenet a first gold medal and added a third to his own palmares.
To illustrate the way “Veghel” unfolded, you need only to show the results of the quarterfinals. Four matches, and in all of these, a former world champion lost. Blomdahl, Merckx, Jaspers and Zanetti were eliminated on Friday by Duc Anh Chien Nguyen, Haeng Jik Kim, Lütfi Cenet and Antonio Montes.
For the Vietnamese D.A.C. Nguyen and Spaniard Montes, a place in the last 16 of a World Cup was a novelty, let alone a spot in the semifinals. Both can look back on a great week, but they will have a bad aftertaste as well. They had chances in their matches against Cenet and Kim. Nguyen lost 40-32 but still had the equalizing inning, ran a courageous six but then slipped up to lose 40-38. Montes had a commanding lead over Cenet but could not sustain it: he lost by the smallest of margins: 40-39.
It so happened that both finalists, Cenet and Kim, performed extremely well in their quarterfinal against a top favorite, and had trouble repeating that level in the semifinal against a relative underdog. Cenet’s first 19 points against Jaspers (in three innings) were world class, and Kim’s comeback to beat Merckx was epic.
The final started like a replay of the Cenet – Jaspers match, when the experienced Turk did everything right in the first few innings, to build up a 21-1 lead over Haeng Jik Kim who could do nothing but suffer on the chair. He kept his cool though, and clawed his way back into the match with small runs, never higher than a six. Cenet started to make some mistakes, and the momentum shifted to the Korean. Never before have we seen the cool and calm Kim so emotional and happy, as when he made the final point to win 40-35 and claim his third World Cup.
One highlight of the week deserves a special mention: Dick Jaspers ran 24 in his match against Nguyen Quoc Nguyen, turning a 16-8 deficit into a 16-32 lead.
Final ranking of Veghel 2019:
1)Haeng Jik Kim 1.882
2)Cenet 1.666
3)D.A.C. Nguyen 1.815
4)Montes 1.565
5)Jaspers 2.413
6)Blomdahl 1.945
7)Zanetti 1.722
8)Merckx 1.627
Veghel, October 20th 2019.
The Netherlands hosted a World Cup for the last time in 2009: Sluiskil. A decade later, world number one and world champion Dick Jaspers gets a chance to play in his own country again, even in his own province. The city of Veghel was home to the Dutch Nationals (Masters) for many years.
For the World Cups of 2019, 2020 and 2021 that will take place in Veghel, the Dutch Federation has teamed up with the BEN Foundation (Billiards Events Netherlands), who were previously responsible for successful Masters and team Cup events.
The venue is an unusual one: a large industrial building owned by the main sponsor of the event: The Jumbo supermarket chain. God catering will not be a problem in Veghel.
The UMB has seeded the following players: Jaspers, Zanetti, Tasdemir, Sayginer, Merckx, J.H. Cho, Q.C. Tran, Sidhom, Coklu, Bury, H.J. Kim, Horn, J.H. Heo and Blomdahl. The UMB wild card was given to M. Abdallah from Egypt, the local wild cards went to Jean van Erp and Barry van Beers.
Play will start on the 20th, the final is scheduled for the afternoon of the 26th. Dutch cable giant Ziggo will broadcast the World Cup matches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. As usual, first prize will be 16.000 euro and there is still 1.500 euro for those who finish 17th – 32nd. The tables are Eureka Triangle, the cloth is Simonis 300 prestige, and the balls are Super Aramith Pro Cup Prestige.