Bolivia is down to the last 32.
A final round of group matches took place on Friday, and sixteen players can relax now, their tournament is over. The remaining 32 will enter the K.O. stage of this 70th World Championship, and it's a n interesting draw.
The third place finishers are: Kahofer, Seo, Tran, Catano, Carlsen, Barbeillon, Teran, Sakai, Zarate, Cartagena, Nady, Tapia, Hudak, Salazar, Bleichner and Sciacca. Unfortunately for Bolivia, the home players could not create an upset.
The name that will catch your eye, is that of Quyet Chien Tran. The Vietnamese player did so well in the past seasons, and was named as a possible future World Cup winner.
The second place finishers (so they are still in the tournament) are: Heo, Diaz, Cho, Hofman, Polychronopoulos, Piedrabuena, Ngo, Leppens, Vera, Hong, Tellez, Sacco, Rudolph, Pennör, Tsokantas and Capak.
Of these sixteen, a few managed to advance by the skin of their teeth, a few others played really well. Heo, for instance, averaged 1.804. Leppens lost his place in the first group when he let a 26-5 lead slip and lost 39-40 to Sung Won Choi.
The first sixteen, the group winners are: Ma, Bury, Caudron, Tasdemir, Blomdahl, Sánchez, Duong, Coklu, Jaspers, Zanetti, Choi, Martinez, Merckx, Nguyen, Sidhom and Kim.
Especially the top position of Minh Cam Ma is remarkable. He won both his matches and averaged 2.580. Bury and Caudron were also on that very high level. Sidhom was the group winner who used up the most innings.
The draw for the last 32:
Ma - Capak
Kim - Heo
Jaspers - Leppens
Coklu - Vera
Martinez - Polychronopoulos
Blomdahl - Sacco
Merckx -Hofman
Tasdemir - Rudolph
Caudron - Pennör
Nguyen - Cho
Sánchez - Tellez
Choi - Piedrabuena
Duong - Hong
Zanetti - Ngo
Sidhom - Diaz
Bury - Tsokantas
Play will resume later this Friday, at 14.00 local time.
New Tournament Venue
The venue of the World Championship has changed, due to organizational motives.
The “Club Social 24 de Septiembre” pioneer of the civil society of Santa Cruz, offered its entire collaboration and support as the new host for the 3-Cushion World Championship.
Therefore, the Union Mondiale de Billard is grateful to the “Club Social 24 de Septiembre” and its Members, in particular its President, Mr. Roger Vaca Diez, for the tremendous efforts that, together with the Bolivian Federation, were necessary to accomplish this transition.
The new Venue, in colonial style, is one of the architectonical jewels of the City, located at the main Square, next to the Government Hall.
The big prize at the end of a long journey.
Forty-eight players will gather in Santa Cruz, Bolivia this week, to decide who will succeed Dani Sánchez as champion of the world. The most prestigious title in 3-cushion is never easy to win, but this year it may be more difficult than ever.
A long journey is the first hurdle the players have to take. Many have decided to go a day early, to gain some time in adjusting to the time difference, the climate and the altitude. But more obstacles await: a long list of high class opponents. The 2017 UMB world champion will have to beat at least six of them.
The defending champion, as mentioned, is Dani Sánchez. His achievements in the past year were so impressive, that even a slight dip in the last World Cup (La Baule) can't take him off the short list of favorites. He is the nr. 1.
Other big names that are expected to go far in the tournament, are Haeng Jik Kim (two World Cup wins), Marco Zanetti (always a threat in a big event), Dick Jaspers, who so often has the highest averages, even in events he does not win, Frédéric Caudron, with a history of doing well on South-American soil, and of course Torbjörn Blomdahl.
Never before have the Europeans faced such strong opposition from Asia. This year, Korea has five players in the field, Japan has one and Vietnam has five. As we have seen in the recent World Cups, all these players are capable of making 40 points in 20 innings or less, which basically means that on their day, they can beat anybody.
The Bolivian hosts have four players in the draw: Amilcar Tapia, Jesus Salazar (not to be confused with Alexander Salazar from Colombia), Jose Luis Bleichner and Juan Carlos Cartagena. Other South-American players are Erick Tellez from Costa Rica, Huberney Catano from Colombia, Guido Sacco from Peru, Javier Teran from Ecuador, Fernando Diaz from Colombia, Carlos Zarate from Argentina and Xavier Vera from Mexico.
Here are all the groups:
Group A:
Dani Sánchez (Spa)
Tonny Carlsen (Den)
Christian Rudolph (Dui)
Group B:
Dick Jaspers (Ned)
Erick Tellez (CR)
Sakai Nobuyasu (Jap)
Group C:
Marco Zanetti (Ita)
Dionisis Tsokantas (Gr)
Jose Luis Bleichner (Bol)
Group D:
Frédéric Caudron (Bel)
Huberney Cataño (Col)
Guido Sacco (Pe)
Group E:
Haeng-Jik Kim (Kor)
Arnim Kahofer (Oos)
Jin Pyo Hong (Kor)
Group F:
Torbjörn Blomdahl (Zwe)
Javier Teran (Ec)
Fernando Diaz (Col)
Group G:
Nikos Polychronopooulos (Gr)
David Martinez (Spa)
Jan Hudak (Tsj)
Group H:
Jérémy Bury (Fr)
Dinh Nai Ngo (Viet)
Hyun Min Seo (Kor)
Group I:
Murat Naci Coklu (Tur)
Jérôme Barbeillon (Fra)
Glenn Hofman (Ned)
Group J:
Eddy Merckx (Bel)
Can Capak (Tur)
Carlos Zarate (Arg)
Group K:
Sameh Sidhom (Egy)
Riad Nady (Egy)
David Pennör (Zwe)
Group L:
Jung-Han Heo (Kor)
Anh Vu Duong (Viet)
Emilio Sciacca (Ita)
Group M:
Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Viet)
Pedro Piedrabuena (US)
Juan Carlos Cartagena (Bol)
Group N:
Quyet Chien Tran (Viet)
Minh Cam Ma (Viet)
Javier Vera (Mex)
Group O:
Sung-Won Choi (Kor)
Eddy Leppens (Bel)
Jesus Salazar (Bol)
Group P:
Jae-Ho Cho (Kor)
Tayfun Tasdemir (Tur)
Amilcar Tapia (Bol).
Mr. Farouk Barki will act as tournament director and Fernando Requena as Technical delegate. Play in Santa Cruz will start on Wednesday 8 November at 12.00.