Ankara, September 10th 2023.
Never before had a World Championship final been contested between two Vietnamese players, and never before had a debutant won the world title. It happened against all odds in Ankara, Turkey today. Phuong Vinh Bao, a 28-year-old economy graduate defeated his countryman Quyet Chien Tran in a convincing manner: 50 - 34 in 33.
The experienced Tran, two World Cups to his name, was obviously the favorite. But Bao played with flair and focus, hardly missing anything that was makeable. Tran’s signature position play never really came to fruition, and well before Bao’s last point he looked like a man who knew it wasn’t his day.
The billiard world didn’t know Bao all that well before this week, but he has won many fans in a short time. His pleasant attitude and ready smile have quickly won him a following.
Semifinals:
Reigning world champion Tayfun Tasdemir put up a brave fight against Tran but the early lead the Vietnamese had built up proved to be too much: 50-47 in 32.
Crowd favorite Myung Woo Cho had bad moments (three miscues) and good ones (a brilliant run of ten and a few shots that will be replayed for years to come). Bao was simply the more consistent player in that match: 50-48 in 29.
On the world ranking, the reign of Dick Jaspers ended today. He had held the #1 position since 2018, but is now 4th. Marco Zanetti, for the first time in his long career, is the world number one. Myung Woo Cho is second, Torbjörn Blomdahl third.
UMB president Farouk Barki announced that the prize money for the world championship will be doubled: 40.000 Euro to the winner , 20.000 Euro to the runner up. The 2024 World Championship will be played in Vietnam, so Bao can defend his title on his home turf.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
https://www.umb-carom.org/PG344L1/Union-Mondiale-de-Billard.aspx
AfreecaTV
https://billiards.afreecatv.com/schedule
FIVE&SIX LIVE AND RESULTS
http://umb.cuesco.net/competition/liveScore?idx=159#content
Ankara, September 9th 2023.
The last sixteen became the last eight, and the last eight became the line-up for Sunday’s semifinals. The four players left in the Ankara World Championship are Tayfun Tasdemir, Myung Woo Cho, Quyet Chien Tran and Phuong Vinh Bao. Did anybody predict that? Seems unlikely, to say the least.
The story of the day: matches that end 50-49. First, it was the battle of the titans between Eddy Merckx and Dick Jaspers. The world number one missed on matchpoint three times, but from difficult positions. Merckx finished the job. Then came the nailbiter between Luis Martinez and Hugo Patino, also a 50-49, in favor of the American. And finally, there was the tense quarterfinal between Pedro Piedrabuena and Vietnamese coming man Phuong Vinh Bao, won 50-49 by the Asian.
With the good results of both Martinez’s, the fine play by Javier Vera and both Patino and Piedrabuena in the quarters, this must be the best event for the PanAmerican players in many years. Hopefully we’ll see more of their talents during the Bogota World Cup in early 2024.
When the new world champion is known, the world ranking will be seriously shook up. Check it Sunday evening after the final , on the UMB website.
Ankara Quarterfinals:
Merckx - Tasdemir 31-50 in 34/35
Tran - Zanetti 50-34 in 25
Cho - Patino 50-29 in 41/40
Bao - Piedrabuena 50-49 in 34
In the semifinals, Tran will play Tasdemir, Bao will meet Cho.
All matches can be watched on Afreeca TV.
Ankara, September 8th 2023.
The third day of play in the World Championship in Ankara provided many surprises. A quick look at the last 16 will show that some familiar names are missing, and some lesser known players are still in the hunt for the world title. How about Bao, Vera, Cha, Martinez, Marechal, Patino? They are all still in. Polychronopoulos, Blomdahl, Bury, Heo, Sidhom? They are out.
Reputations don’t mean a lot anymore these days, and strange things can happen. The most talked about match of the day was Blomdahl - Tasdemir, with the Swede 22-1 in the lead after 2 innings. It was the reigning world champion however, who had the last word: 50-39 to the Turk.
Survival winner Nikos Polychronopoulos was eliminatd by Myong Jong Cha, and New York winner Sameh Sidhom got beaten by Roland Forthomme. Korean promise Jun Tae Kim lost to Luis Martinez, Michael Nilsson got beaten by Hugo Patino. Pedro Piedrabuena got his revenge against Jeremy Bury, who had beaten him so badly in the group stage.
After all the dust had settled, these are the matches for the last 16:
Patino - L. Martinez
M.W. Cho - Forthomme
Bao -Marechal
H.J. Kim - Piedrabuena
Merckx - Jaspers
B. Karakurt - Tasdemir
M.J. Cha - Zanetti
Vera - Q.C. Tran
You can watch all the action on Afreeca TV.
Ankara, September 7th 2023.
A few of the sixteen groups had predictable results, with the favorites easily qualifying for the K.O. stage. But a few more were hard fought, with three players all on one win and one loss, the average being the tie breaker.
A) Javier Vera the surprising group winner, joined by world champion Tayfun Tasdemir. Robinson Morales is out.
B) Jean Paul de Bruijn starts off with a win over Jaspers, but he ends up third anyway. Dick Jaspers and Ji Hun Ahn advance.
C) Marco Zanetti is the dominant player here, Hugo Patino also through. Mohamed Abdin is third.
D) Torbjorn Blomdahl wins twice, Riuji Umeda is second. Abousaleh comes up short.
E) Myung Woo Cho has no problems, Huberney Catano also qualifies. Behzat Cetin is out.
F) Superb play by Eddy Merckx (2.162) who is joined by Gwendal Marechal. Rui Costa is third.
G) Sameh Sidhom concedes a draw but wins the group anyway. Martinez two, Sorensen three.
H) Gerhard Kostistansky with two wins, Haeng Jik Kim secures second place, Kostas Kokkoris out.
I) Quyet Chien Tran wins the group, Omer Karakurt second, Tolgahan Kiraz third.
J) Strong play by Jeremy Bury (2.000), Piedrabuena second in spite of a 40 to 5 defeat. Villegas is third.
K) Bao and Polychronopoulos qualify, Hajek must settle for third place.
L) One win, one loss for all three. Jung Han Heo and Berkay Karakurt advance, Miyashita is out.
M) Michael Nilsson wins the group, Jun Tae Kim second, Hyung Kon Kim third.
N) Martin Horn group winner, Emilio Sciacca second. Abu Tayeh has to settle for third place.
O) Another group with all players on a win and a loss. Ruben Legazpi draws the short straw, Martinez and Forthomme advance.
P) Cha and Diaz play a draw and it puts them both in the last 32. Dion Nelin goes out.
Tomorrow`s matches are all K.O. to 50 points, no eqaulizing inning. Follow the action on Afreeca TV.
Ankara, September 6th 2023
Two of the favorites in the 75th World Championships suffered an unexpected loss on day 1. Haeng Jik Kim got blindsided by a strong Gerhard Kostistansky, and Dick Jaspers was once again beaten by his countryman Jean Paul de Bruijn. Other top names, such as Marco Zanetti, Torbjorn Blomdahl, and Tayfun Tasdemir had relatively easy wins. Eddy Merckx was put under a lot of pressure by Gwendal Marechal, and Sameh Sidhom had to work hard to beat J.F. Martinez.
The format with groups of three, two players advancing, means that almost all the decisions will fall tomorrow, Thursday. In some cases, the average will decide. Even if you lose, a good run in the equalizing inning such as de Bruin`s 7 against Ji Hun Ahn, can be crucial. Many eyes will be on the group of the world number one, Dick Jaspers. He needs to both beat Ahn and improve his average by quite a bit, or he will be out of the tournament.
Full match results are available on the UMB website and on Cuesco. The entire event, played in the TBF`s beautiful Ankara venue, is streamed by Afreeca TV.
Lausanne, September 2nd 2023
It’s unique in the world: the Turkish Billiard Federation’s venue in the nation’s capital. From 6-23 September it will host no fewer than four separate World Championships, starting off with the crown event: the men’s individual 3-cushion title. Later in the month, there will be world championships for juniors, women and artistic players. Tayfun Tasdemir defends his 2022 world title in 3-cushion.
The others players that were seeded by the UMB are Dick Jaspers, Marco Zanetti, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Myung Woo Cho, Eddy Merckx, Sameh Sidhom, Haeng Jik Kim, Quyet Chien Tran, Jeremy Bury, Nikos Polychronopoulos, Jung Han Heo, Jun Tae Kim, Martin Horn, Ruben Legazpi, Myeong Jong Cha and Dion Nelin.
Thirteen additional participants were provided by the CEB, eight by the CPB, 5 by the ACBC and 3 by the AMECC. The local organization gave their two wildcards to Tolgahan Kiraz and Ömer Karakurt. A full player list is on the UMB page, under “active events”.
If history teaches us anything, it’s been very difficult to defend a 3-cushion world title. The last player to do that in two consecutive tournaments was Raymond Ceulemans in 1980.
Sixteen groups of three players will play a qualification round, matches to 40 with equal innings, two of them advancing. From the last 32, the format will be knock-out, matches to 50, no equalizing inning.
The tables in Ankara are Zeki Bilardo, the balls are Dynaspheres and the cloth is Classone B2 Black. Afreeca TV and Five & Six will stream the entire event.