Ho Chi Minh City , May,24th 2019
Turkey and Belgium dominant in Ho Chi Minh World Cup
After the group stage of the Ho Chi Minh World Cup, Belgium and Turkey both have four players left, which means together they make up half the field. Only one Korean player made it, and two Vietnamese.
Group A. Jaspers 6 points, Tellez 4, Kang 2, Carlsen 0. The world champion made a spectacular comeback to beat Dong Koong Kang, and was never in trouble after that.
Group B. Caudron 4, D.A.C. Nguyen 4, T.T.T. Nguyen 4, Ma 0. Poor start for Caudron, brilliant finish with a run of 14. D.A.C. Nguyen shows a lot of promise.
Group C. M.W. Cho 6, Ngo 3, J.H. Cho 3, Duong 0. Highest group average of the field is for young Cho: 2.666. Ngo qualifies on average, over J.H. Cho.
Group D. Sayginer 5, Sidhom 5, Capak 2, Nelin 0. Strong play (2.000 avg.) by Sayginer, Sidhom does well to beat both Nelin and Capak.
Group E. Tasdemir 6, Forthomme 4, Heo 2, Alp 0. Tasdemir unbeaten, hard work for Forthomme who qualifies after a 40-37 win over Alp.
Group F. Sánchez 4, Uymaz 3, Tran 3, Bury 2. The Spaniard sets the tone with a win over Tran, Uymaz secures his place by beating Sánchez in only 13 innings.
Group G. Zanetti 4, Coklu 4, Minh 2, Kim 2. Zanetti is safe after two high quality matches, Coklu joins him. Minh (fantastic general avg. of 2.382) and Haeng Jik Kim (run of 18) are unlucky.
Group H. Leppens 6, Merckx 4, van Beers 1, N.Q. Nguyen 1. A Belgian dominated group, they have a big lead over the nrs. 3 and 4.
Matches in the last 16:
Tasdemir – Tellez, Sánchez – Merckx , Caudron – Coklu
Jaspers – Ngo, Cho – Uymaz, Zanetti – Sidhom
Sayginer – Nguyen, Leppens – Forthomme.
Ho Chi Minh City, May 20th, 2019.
New Sports Center in Ho Chi Minh City.
A most welcome initiative from the Vietnamese Olympic Committee that has recently inaugurated a brand new Sports Center in Ho Chi Minh City for the hosting and promotion of several sports disciplines, including Billiards.
With no doubts, this is very good news for the numerous billiards fans in Vietnam. We are confident that this new Sports Center will positively contribute in the further development of the Billiards Sports in Vietnam, with repercussions all over the World.
Congratulations to the Vietnamese Billiards Federation for its involvement in this excellent investment.
UMB.
The 179th World Cup takes place in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
For the fifth time, Vietnam will be the host of a World Cup tournament. Previous editions in Ho Chi Minh City were won by Tayfun Tasdemir (2015), Frédéric Caudron (2016), Eddy Merckx (2017) and Quyet Chien Tran (2018). The Vietnamese crowd loves 3-cushion, and this event has never lacked in atmosphere or enthusiasm. It goes without saying that last year’s final between two Vietnamese players – Ngo Dinh Nai played so well, but Tran had the cool finish – was a highlight.
For this 179th World Cup event in history, the wildcards have been awarded to Erick Tellez (UMB) and Minh Cam Ma and Duong Anh Vu (local). They will join the seeds, based on the world ranking: Jaspers, Caudron, Cho, Sayginer, Tasdemir, Tran, Zanetti, Merckx, Nguyen, Coklu, Bury, Heo, Sidhom and Ngo.
In the qualification event, we find big names like Blomdahl and Sánchez, Leppens and Choi, Horn and Haeng Jik Kim. There are strong delegations from Turkey, Spain and of course S. Korea. On the ladies’ front: no Klompenhouwer or Hida, but Namiko Hayashi and Sruong Pheavy will play.
Play in the Nguyen Du Stadium will start on the 20th of May, the final is scheduled for the 26th. The winner takes home 16.000 Euro, there is 10.000 for the runner-up and 6.000 for the losing semifinalists.
Tayfun Tasdemir is in the lead for the battle of the overall World Cup: he won the first event of 2019 in Antalya. Caudron has the maximum number of points to defend: he will lose his 80 points from Antalya 2018. The position of Dick Jaspers as the number 1 on the world ranking is safe: he will stay on top regardless of what happens in Vietnam next week.