LUXOR - The stands filled with Kimchi players watched the fight between two recent champions until the end. The Sonesta hotel, where the Luxor World Cup is played, was close to the final stage of qualifications. Jae-Guen Kim, Korean world champion National Teams (with Sung-Won Choi) knocked out last week’s Asian champion Nguyen Quoc Nguyen. The Vietnamese struggled his second lost after Birol Uymaz in the first match.
Roland Forthomme played with fire against Can Capak, just before the lights. The Belgian couldn’t finish on time and was thrown out. When the arena made up for the draw, there was only hope for the best runners-up. Three Koreans (Jae-Guen Kim, Choong-Bok Lee and Dong-Koong Kang) grabbed the bonus. Not only Roland Forthomme, also Murat Tüzül and Duong Ahn Vu were just out of the top three.
Murat Tüzül missed the break for a thousand-euro bonus and a spot in the main tournament. Roland Forthomme also made such an expensive mistake and stumbled in sight of the finish. Adnan Yüksel and Eddy Leppens could escape with strong performances in the second session of the day.
The draw coupled Torbjörn Blomdahl and Semih Sayginer for the third time in two World Cup years. Torbjörn Blomdahl and Semih Sayginer face each other, as they did in Hurghada and Bursa last year and Porto in 2014. The Swede was victorious in all those bumps. Other matches to look forward to:
Eddy Merckx-Myung-Woo Cho
Nikos Polychronopoulos-Dong-Koong Kang
Murat Naci Coklu-Adnan Yüksel
Frédéric Caudron-Eddy Leppens.
The group summaries:
Group A:
Tayfun Tasdemir makes a great start against Hesham Zaghloul (40-10 in 13) and has to beat the Greek Kostas Papakonstantinou in his secnd. Tayfun dominates and wins 40-28 in 27, topping the group with 2.000.
Group B:
Sung-Won Choi is even more impressive in his matches against Ahmet Alp and Kostas Kokkoris. The Korean apparently has managed to keep his form from the World championship in Viersen and shines with wins in 17 and 14 innings and a 15 run against Ahmet Alp. That brings him a nice 2.580 as result.
Group C:
The poor Eddy Leppens made against Duong Anh Vu (29-9 down in ten innings, 36-32 after 16 and eventually 40-35 loss in eighteen), inspires the Belgian to a pursuit. Young Jung Ju Shin, who beat Duong, has the qualification in his own hands, but can’t deal with the pressure and runs into a strong Leppens: 40-31 in 27.
Group D:
Regay Henry, the amiable Egyptian, plays a shadow role in the triptych with Semih Sayginer and Jose Maria Mas. The two leaders battle it out in the final round. Sayginer wins unthreatened 40-19 in 19 innings and is close to two average over two games.
Group E:
The Korean brother match between Hyung Bum Hwang and Dong-Koong Kang opens the camp in which Ngo Dinh Nai is out of chance. Hwang beats Kang (40-35) and both go smoothly along Ngo. The Vietnamese, last week on the stage at the Asian championship ahead of all Koreans, is remarkably tame for his opponent in Luxor with 0.950.
Group F:
Lütfi Cenet is not the fighter he usually is in World Cups. Both he and Xuan Cuong Ma deal with Arnim Kahofer, Ma is slightly better in the decider with Cenet: 40-35 in 39.
Group G:
Can Capak is not on his best against Mohsen Fouda (40-38) and not unlucky at the end of the match against Roland Forthomme. The Belgian, under pressure, fails to finish, Capak grabs his last chances and wins 40-39 30.
Group H:
Birol Uymaz and Jae Guen Kim fire up the tension in the first match with a draw. The Turk then jumps as first over Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (40-27 in 24), the Korean needs some more innings, but gets his a ticket for the main draw as the best runner-up.
Group I:
The equalizer of Murat Tüzül, at the end of his match against Ma Minh Cam, is a shot for a thousand euros. The Turkish club owner misses the main event, when a draw had been enough. Tüzül, at 40-38, missea the lucrative run-up to the knockout stage. Ma is the lucky winner.
Group J:
The junior in this field with three Koreans towers above the routine players. Myung-Woo Cho is a bridge too far for Ji Hun Ahn (40-30 in 20) and Choong-Bok Lee (40-31 in 22). The world’s junior champion shows again his progression in in Luxor with a place in the main draw.
Group K:
Adnan Yüksel’s brilliant finish brings him on top of the group after a loss in his first match. The Turk beats Hyung Kon Kim 40-8 in 15 innings and is the winner by a better average.
Group L:
Jean Paul de Bruijn starts with the best chances in the match against Javier Palazón, after his win over Chi Yeon Cho in 27 innings. The Korean defeats Palazón and De Bruijn even can afford a loss in his last with a small margin. Palazón indeed takes the win, but 40-36 in 29 is not sufficient. De Bruijn is the number one by average.
The final ranking in the last qualification:
1 Sung-Won Choi 4-2.580-15
2 Tayfun Tasdemir 4-2.000-10
3 Semih Sayginer 4-1.951-11
4 Myung Woo Cho 4-1.904-7
5 Hyung Bum Hwang 4-1.481-12
6 Minh Cam Ma 4-1.379-9
7 Xuan Cuong Ma 4-1.355-10
8 Can Capak 4-1.355-10
9 Birol Uymaz 3-1.568-10
10 Eddy Leppens 2-1.666-10
11 Adnan Yüksel 2-1.396-8
12 Jean Paul de Bruijn 2-1.357-10
Runners-up:
1 Jae Guen Kim 3-1.333-12
2-Dong Koong Kang 2-1.500-12
3-Choong Bok Lee 2-1.448-8.
The draw for the main tournament:
Thursday:
12.00:
Jaspers - Uymaz
Choi-Ma - Xuan Cuong
Sidhom - Kim Jae Guen
Kim Haeng-Jik - Ma Minh Cam
14.00:
Tran - De Bruijn
Merckx - Cho Myung-Woo
Cho Jae -Ho-Capak
Blomdahl - Sayginer
16.00:
Sánchez - Nady
Coklu - Yüksel
Polychronopoulos - Kang Dong-Koong
Heo - El Messery
18.00:
Zanetti - Tellez
Bury - Hwang
Tasdemir - Lee Choong-Bok
Caudron-Leppens.
LUXOR - The new challenge in the World Cup cycle with the world’s best players is coming up next week. The historic city of Luxor with its famous monuments, ruins and temples, is hosting the second event this year. The three previous winners were all European protagonists, Frédéric Caudron, Dick Jaspers and Eddy Merckx. The Sonesta St. George Hotel is the stage for the new World Cup.
The monuments in billiards meet the ancient monuments in Luxor. The last World Cup winner this year, in Bursa, Turkey, was Caudron, who was the better of Jaspers in the final. The WC cycle consists of seven tournaments, Luxor is the second this year. The hotel's upper room, with its fantastic views over the Nile and the west bank, welcomes all the world class players with a total of 125 participants, from March 26 to April 1. For many players in the preliminary rounds, the Luxor World Cup is not only a sportive challenge, but also a wonderful opportunity to visit the historic monuments.
Dick Jaspers, who won the World Cup cycle last year, is the number one ranked player to top the seeded players, followed by Frédéric Caudron, Dani Sánchez, the world champion and Player of the Year in 2016, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Marco Zanetti. The stage of fourteen seeded players consists of nine Europeans, four Asians and one African. The fourth World Cup in Luxor is the last in this city. UMB President Farouk Barki: ,,Next year (2018) we have two big organizations in Egypt. The world championship in the first week of October and the World Cup in Hurghada. After four great editions we have to say goodbye to Luxor.''
The World Cups in Egypt (Hurghada and Luxor) are known for their exchanges of referees over the years. Many Germans, Dutch and Belgians have joined the excellent Egyptian corps. Bilo Salama is the head of the referees, Willem Hofman from the Netherlands has been a guest referee for seven years now.
What makes the World Cup in Luxor great, and why do you want to be part of the event?
Bilo Salama: ,,Luxor is a special World Cup, because there are so many monuments to visit before and after the matches.''
Willem Hofman: ,,The combination of culture, ancient history, the pleasant weather and sports on a high level makes it special.''
How many times have you been a referee in the Egyptian World Cups?
Willem Hofman: ,,This is the seventh consecutive time and the fourth time in Luxor.''
Bilo Salama: ,,I did them all in Luxor, now unfortunately for the last time.''
Were there any special moments?
Bilo Salama: ,,The first victory of the Dutch number one, Dick Jaspers, after fourteen World Cups in Egypt was in Luxor. And the final in which Frédéric Caudron started with 19 two years ago.''
Willem Hofman: ,,The final in which Dick Jaspers played 5.000 average, the year that Bilo Salama, my little big friend, was one of the players and to spend all days there with friends.''
How many matches are you leading through the year?
Willem Hofman: ,,I think between 75 and 100 in my country, in all disciplines. And forty matches more in the year of the European championships in Brandenburg.''
Bilo Salama: ,,I am part of the organization in Hurghada and Luxor, so I have to wait for the final stages. But lots of matches at the Europeans in Brandenburg this year.''
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Three winners from the low countries in Luxor until now. Who is your favorite for this year?
Willem Hofman: ,,As a Dutchman I say Dick Jaspers, he's always been my favourite, furthermore Dani Sánchez, Nikos Polychronopoulos and Roland Forthomme, these are my main contenders.''
Bilo Salama: ,,At this stage of performance from the players, anyone can win.''
The top fourteen in Luxor are:
Dick Jaspers, Frédéric Caudron, Dani Sánchez, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Marco Zanetti, Eddy Merckx, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Haeng-Jik Kim, Sameh Sidhom, Jung-Han Heo, Jérémy Bury, Murat Naci Coklu, Jae-Ho Cho and Quyet Chien Tran. The wildcards are given to Erick Tellez (Costa Rica) and the Egyptians Riad Nady and Ihab El Messery.
Egyptian's champion Sameh Sidhom, looking forward: ,,My form is very good these days. I expect a very strong World Cup, as all the players are showing top form billiards. For me, it is an honour to be part of such an event. I know, sometimes it adds more pressure to be a home player, but I think I've got used to it now.''
Dick Jaspers is the leader in the ranking with 432 points, ahead of Frédéric Caudron 392. In Luxor, the Dutchman must defend the 80 points of his World Cup win in Bursa last year. The Belgian was second there and defends 54 points. The first heats are on Sunday, March 26, including the Egyptian Mahmoud Ayman, the French World Cup organizer Joel Switala and the world champion artistic billiards Serdar Gumus.
The UMB and the Luxor organization invite you to visit the tournament, or to follow the matches live on kozoom.com.