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Ho Chi Minh City May 28th 2023
In the final, supertalent Myung Woo Cho was the favorite. But 60-year-old Torbjörn Blomdahl clawed his way back into a match that looked like Korean one-way traffic for a while, and added yet another World Cup win to his long resume. With 46 gold medals, 19 silvers and 28 bronzes, Blomdahl has been on the podium of a World Cup prize ceremony an astonishing 93 times in 195 tournaments held since 1986.
“Everything is a bonus now”, said the Swede. He claimed to play without much pressure, but his body language during the final revealed how badly he still wanted to win. A run of 12 brought him back to life, after Cho had dominated the first half hour of a final that was thoroughly entertaining. The Vietnamese crowd loved it.
Martin Horn had no answer to Cho’s scoring in the first semi, and Jun Tae Kim was not quite himself when he played Blomdahl in the second semi. Consolation prize for both: they will soon be seeded players in World Cups.
Semifinals: Cho – Horn 50 – 34 in 24
Blomdahl – Kim 50 – 31 in 30/29
Final: Blomdahl – Cho 50 – 44 in 33/32
Blomdahl’s run of 26 in his first match is a new world record for high runs in World Cup play.
UMB president Farouk Barki announced that the Ho Chi Minh World Cup will again be on the calendar in 2024, and that Vietnam will also host the World Championship.
Ho Chi Minh City, May 27th 2023.
The Vietnamese crowd loves their 3-cushion
One by one the Vietnamese players were eliminated, but the spectators still loved every minute of it. Rarely will you see (and hear) more enthusiasm in the stands than in Ho Chi Minh City.
The excitement had its reasons. Matches ending 50-49, spectacular points made and missed by a hair, the Saturday had it all.
The world number one, Dick Jaspers, was eliminated by Martin Horn who used up some innings but defended superbly: 50-41 in 31/30.
Local hero Quyet Chien Tran fought back against Myung Woo Cho but still came up short: 50-43 in 30/29 to the Korean.
Torbjörn Blomdahl continued his great week with a convincing win over Jung Han Heo, a player who had beaten him a few times in a row: 50-32 in 19.
Jun Tae Kim had an unbelievable half hour against Sameh Sidhom, where he started out making 28 in 4. The second half of his match was not on that level, but the win was never in danger: 50-25 in 18/17.
In the previous round, the last 16, Jaspers had eliminated Zanetti, Horn had beaten Morales, Tran won against Cha (50-49), Cho had edged world champion Tasdemir (50-48), Blomdahl had easily beaten Mas, Heo got past Kiraz, Sidhom had dealt with Do Nguyen and Jun Tae Kim had a nailbiter win over Polychronopoulos (50-49).
Semifinals:
Horn – M.W. Cho
Blomdahl – J.T. Kim