Murat Naci Coklu (41) had his glorious day and won his first World Cup ever in his home town in a final against Belgian Roland Forthomme: 40-26 in 21.
The rapturous winner, the second Turkish World Cup winner this year after Tayfun Tasdemir, was crowned by the title in a tournament where the top twelve players were eliminated one by one and the golden battle brought two outsiders in the arena.
Dick Jaspers, defeated by Coklu in the semi-finals and Eddy Merckx (by Forthomme) completed the rostrum in the wonderful arena in Zeytinoglu Caddesi sports center in Besiktas, Istanbul.
Murat Naci Coklu, whose highlight in his career so far was the European title in 2004, celebrated his triumph with a brilliant smile, stuck his cue in the air, posed with the Turkish flag and was congratulated by the legend Raymond Ceulemans, tournament director Gökhan Salman, Turkish billiards president Ersan Ercan and his loved ones in the stands. On the stage, with the trophy in his hand during the Turkish national anthem, the champion could not restrain his tears of joy.
The enthusiastic audience shared in the emotions of the champion, who had shown his great fighting spirit on the final day when he defeated Dick Jaspers in the semi-finals in a shootout: 5-4. The other Turkish star this year, Tayfun Tasdemir, was eliminated by the later winner on the second day of the main tournament.
Torbjörn Blomdahl remained the leader of the world ranking despite his early elimination. Dani Sánchez is the new leader of the World Cup ranking with a small lead over Dick Jaspers and Torbjörn Blomdahl.
The sixthe and last World Cup this year is in Hurghada, Egypt, from 13 to 19 December.
UMB.