OFFICIAL RESULTS
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FIVE&SIX LIVE AND RESULTS
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Hall in Tirol, November 12th 2023.
How do you defeat Eddy Merckx in a World Cup final? Even the greatest talent on the planet couldn’t do it today: Myung Woo Cho lost 50-43 in 21/20. The only player who knows is Dani Sánchez, who did it in Hurghada in 2008. Merckx was in fourteen finals in his life, including this one in Seoul .
That incredible record, 13 out of 14, will make it even harder for his opponents in the future. It’s the mark of a great sportsman, to bring their A-game when it’s about gold or silver.
In a Korean semifinal, Myung Woo Cho got the better of his even younger and equally talented countryman and friend Ye Sung Jeong. A run of 9 by Cho put some distance between the two, and another 9 took him from 41 to 50. The 50-23 in 24 was disappointing for Jeong, but he played a sensational event, eliminating Blomdahl, Jaspers and Horn.
In the other semi, Zanetti was quickest out of the blocks (18-11 after 5 innings) but Merckx ran a 9 to close the gap and ran away with a 13 a few minutes later: 50-30 in 17 to the Belgian. The Italian maestro could do no better than add yet another bronze medal to his long resume.
Merckx opened the final on a high level (20-4 after 5 innings) but a stretch of 7-5-5 brought Cho back into it. Merckx kept making threes and fours, and in the end the pace was just too much for Cho: 50-43 in 21/20.
The high run in Seoul was shared by Roland Forthomme and Marco Zanetti: 18.
The high tournament average was played by Myung Woo Cho: 2.426.
The best match was shared by Ye Sung Jeong and Myung Woo Cho: 3.333.
In the race for the overall World Cup win of 2023, the situation at the top is very tight: Merckx on 162 pts, Cho on 162 as well, Horn on 160, Jaspers on 152 and Tran on 150. All will be decided in Sharm El Sheik in December.
The new world ranking still has Cho as the number one, and he is followed by Zanetti, Jaspers, Blomdahl, Tran, Merckx, Sidhom, H.J. Kim, P.V. Bao, Tasdemir, Horn, J.T. Kim, J.H. Heo and Bury in the fourteen seeded spots.
Ye Sung Jeong, a new superstar.
Seoul, November 11th
There appears to be no limit to the flow of Korean talent. The Seoul World Cup marks the breakthrough of 21-year-old Ye Sung Jeong, who must think he is dreaming. Beating Blomdahl, Jaspers and Horn in two days’ time: it sounds too good to be true.
The young man showed remarkable calm in his tough battle with Dick Jaspers, where he had a 47-43 lead and saw the Dutchman run 6. Two uncharacteristic misses on match point by Jaspers gave him a last straw, and he coolly won 50-49.
Eddy Merckx found his form against Haeng Jik Kim in the quarterfinal: 50-30 in 23/22. Marco Zanetti traded high runs with Ruben Legazpi: an 18 for the Italian, a 17 for the Spaniard. Zanetti won: 50-36 in 22. Ye Sung Jeong got past yet another European top player: 50-31 in 15 against Martin Horn. World number one Myung Woo Cho had no mercy for his countryman Myeong Jong Cha: 50-13 in 15/14.
It meant that Merckx, with 2.173, had the lowest average of the four winning quarterfinalists! The level was superb, this Saturday, with both Cho and Jeong on 3.333.
Tomorrow’s semifinals:
Myung Woo Cho – Ye Sung Jeong
Marco Zanetti – Eddy Merckx.
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV.
Seoul, November 10th 2023.
Sixteen left standing in Seoul.
After a long day of group matches, the field has been cut in half. Of the 32 main draw players, 16 had to pack their bags. Some big names did not survive the Friday; among them Blomdahl, Tran, Tasdemir and world champion Bao.
Group A: Zanetti and Morales clearly a level above Tellez and Garcia.
Group B: Great play by M.W. Cho (2.264), who is joined by W.Y. Choi. Soumagne and H.K. Kim are out.
Group C: Horn group winner, Y.S. Jeong surprising second. Blomdahl and Nady eliminated.
Group D: Jaspers and Costa advance, at the expense of J.H. Heo and Salman.
Group E: J.T. Kim (2.033) and Ceulemans first and second, Kiraz and Q.C. Tran go home.
Group F: H.C. Thai group winner, Sidhom second. Bury and Kostistansky are out.
Group G: Two wins for Cha and Merckx, that was good enough to advance. Maréchal and Bao come up short.
Group H: H.J. Kim group winner, Legazpi second. Tasdemir and Park three and four.
The K.O. matches to 50 points, on Saturday:
M.W. Cho – R.M. Costa
M.J. Cha – Morales
Jaspers – Y.S. Jeong
Horn – Sidhom
Zanetti – Ceulemans
H.C. Thai – Legazpi
H.J. Kim – W.Y. Choi
J.T. Kim – Merckx
All matches can be watched on Afreeca TV.
Seoul, November 9th 2023.
Wan Young Choi leads the field.
Twelve group winners and three best seconds booked their place in the main draw on Thursday. The fifth World Cup of 2023 has a strong field of 32, with group play traditionally starting on Friday.
Wan Young Choi from Korea was the best qualifier, with two wins and 2.051. Robinson Morales also averaged well: two wins and 2.000. Gökhan Salman and Tolgahan Kiraz carry the flag for Turkiye, Pierre Soumagne and Gwendal Maréchal do so for France. The field is a regular world map of 3-cushion billiards, with two Spaniards, a Portuguese, a Belgian, an Austrian, three Koreans, a Colombian, an Egyptian and a Vietnamese.
Some top players got eliminated. Nikos Polychronopoulos, recently in the news with a run of 25, finished last in his group. Roland Forthomme, the co-world record holder high run ran an 18 but couldn’t advance.
The three lucky seconds turned out to be Riad Nady, who keeps improving his level, Pierre Soumagne and Jose Juan Garcia.
Thursday’s winners:
Wan Young Choi – 4 – 2.051
Robinson Morales – 4 – 2.000
Gökhan Salman – 4 – 1.600
Tolgahan Kiraz – 4 – 1.568
Gerhard Kostistansky – 4 – 1.509
Gwendal Maréchal – 4 – 1.481
Ruben Legazpi – 4 – 1.481
Su Yeong Park – 4 – 1.311
Myeong Jong Cha – 4 – 1.230
Hong Chiem Thai – 3 – 1.777
Peter Ceulemans – 3 – 1.538
Rui Manuel Coasta – 3 – 1.269
Best seconds:
Riad Nady – 2 – 1.750
Pierre Soumagne – 2 – 1.674
Jose Juan Garcia – 2 – 1.638
All group matches in the main draw can be watched on Afreeca TV.
Seoul, November 8th 2023.
Things could not have been much tighter, in Wednesday’s PQ round at the Seoul World Cup. Several groups had close finishes, and there was much tension in the wait for the “best seconds” to be announced.
Two of the groups stood out, for this reason. Sam van Etten (group G) who made a name for himself in the recent Veghel World Cup, had a win and a loss, and he needed Jose Miguel Soares to beat Han Thanh Lam. The Portuguese player obliged, but only just: 30-29.
It got even tighter in Group E, where Wan Young Choi and Jeffrey Jorissen both ended on 3 points and 1.666. Choi won the group on high run, and Jorissen had to wait. The cancellations of Michael Nilsson and Thanh Luc Tran helped, and the Dutchman advanced into the Q round, together with classic disciplines specialist Raul Cuenca.
Korean Ja In Kang, whom we used to know as In Won Kang, was the day’s best winner with 4 points and 1.935. Here are the sixteen winners:
Ja In Kang – 4 – 1.935
T.T.T. Nguyen – 4 – 1.818
Van Ly Dao – 4 – 1.621
Turgay Orak – 4 – 1.578
Jose Juan Garcia – 4 – 1.538
Ji Hun Ahn – 4 – 1.538
Robinson Morales – 4 – 1.500
Su Yeong Park – 4 – 1.363
Gökhan Salman – 4 – 1.304
Ömer Karakurt – 4 – 1.250
Sung Il Jeong – 4 – 1.153
Wan Young Choi – 3 – 1.666
Pierre Soumagne – 3 – 1.621
Tatsuo Arai – 3 – 1.395
Manuel Rui Costa – 2 – 1.225
Sam van Etten – 2 – 1.160
In the Q round on Thursday, Berkay Karakurt and his brother Ömer find themselves in the same group.
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV.
Seoul, November 7th 2023.
Jang and Cuenca shine in Seoul.
The second day of the Seoul World Cup showed the rising level of qualifying players. Two of them advanced to day three with an average over 2.000, which is extraordinary for the PPQ stage.
As it was yesterday, seven local Korean players finished as group winners. The Turks also did well, with four players into the PQ. Jin Youl Kim ran 15 from the spots, the highest run of the day.
Here is the honor list for Tuesday:
Sung Won Jang – 4 – 2.222
Raul Cuenca – 4 – 2.000
Van Ly Dao – 4 – 1.764
Tarik Yavuz – 4 – 1.500
Jin Youl Kim – 4 – 1.463
Su Hyon Cho – 4 – 1.363
Muammer Rahmet – 4 – 1.333
Jin Woo Heo – 4 – 1.304
Yong Pyo Lee – 4 – 1.304
Su Yeong Park – 4 – 1.250
Viet Hoang Minh – 4 – 1.200
Ali Gulbay – 4 – 1.071
Jordy de Kruijf – 4 – 0.810
Hyun Il Song – 3 – 1.016
Han Thanh Lam – 2 – 1.500
Ismet Esen – 2 – 1.106
Hoan Tat Nguyen managed to finish second in his group with 1.793! Likely, there’s a “lucky loser” spot for him on Wednesday.
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV.
Seoul, November 6th 2023.
The first day of a World Cup qualification tournament is not an easy thing to survive. The tables are long and slippery, and making the right adjustments is difficult. Still, on day one of the Seoul World Cup, the group winner averages were around and over 1.000, which speaks to the quality of the field.
Seven local Korean players, one of them a lady (Haeun Kim) advanced to the next stage, and they were joined by three Turks, two players from Japan, two from Spain, a Dutchman and a Vietnamese. The latter, Han Thanh Lam, was the best of the bunch with two wins and 1.333.
Here are the sixteen best from opening day:
Han Thanh Lam – 4 – 1.333
Raul Cuenca – 4 – 1.250
Sung Won Jang – 4 – 1.224
Yeon Cheoi Jeong – 4 – 1.176
Yong Pyo Lee – 4 – 1.132
Su Hyun Cho – 4 – 1.071
Shouta Funaki – 4 – 1.034
Tarik Yavuz – 4 – 1.034
Duk Young Park – 4 1.016
Masataka Kanbara – 4 – 0.967
Sergio Martinez – 4 – 0.937
Ahmet Koseoglu – 4 – 0.882
Haeun Kim – 4 – 0.833
Reggy Brouwers – 3 – 0.937
Ki Sung An – 3 – 0.923
Vedat Akyol – 2 – 1.021
All matches can be viewed on Afreeca TV. Detailed results can be found on the UMB website.
The time difference between South Korea and Europe is eight hours.
Seoul, November 4th 2023.
With Veghel still fresh in our memory, we move on to South Korea for the fifth World Cup of the 2023 season. From 6 – 12 November the billiard capital of the world will once again be host to a WC event, the 198th in our history. The 2023 cycle will be completed in Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, in December. So far in 2023, World Cups have been won by Tayfun Tasdemir (Las Vegas), Torbjörn Blomdahl (Ho Chi Minh), Quyet Chien Tran (Porto) and Dick Jaspers (Veghel).
The following players have been seeded: Zanetti, M.W. Cho, Blomdahl, Jaspers, Q.C. Tran, Sidhom, Merckx, H.J. Kim, Tasdemir, new world champion P.V. Bao, Bury, J.T. Kim, J.H. Heo and Horn. The two local wildcards went to Hyeong Kon Kim and Jeong Ye Sung, the UMB/CPB wildcard was given to Erick Tellez of Costa Rica.
The qualification tournament is always very strong in Seoul, and this year is no exception. In addition to all the talented Korean players, many other countries are sending their best. Turkey has the largest delegation, with 30 players.
The tables in Seoul are Hollywood, the cloth is ClassOne B2 Black, the balls are Dynaspheres. At stake are the usual ranking points: 80 / 54 / 36 / 26 / 18 / 10 / 8.
In the race for the overall World Cup win of 2023, Quyet Chien Tran is in the lead with 142 points, followed by Blomdahl, Tasdemir and Jaspers, all on 134 points.
All matches will be streamed by Afreeca TV. Detailed results will be available on the UMB website.