3-Cushion
ANTALYA - The Vietnamese player Huynh Phuong Linh Nguyen was topping the sixteen winners at the World Cup in Antalya for the second day. The second best Vietnamese also finished in the day's top 3, the Turks move on to the next round with seven, Jordanian Naser Awwad is a dark horse and the French had two winners, of whom Kevin Vasseur is scheduled with two compatriots in one group tomorrow: Jérôme Barbeillon and Gwendal Maréchal. Three Turks also meet up in one group: Ahmet Alp, Cem Ozkaya, Turgay Orak
The Czechs should be proud of Adam Baca, one of two Baca brothers. He survived two days and won his four matches. The modest billiard country Jordan even has two players in the schedule on Wednesday and the Dutch are the losers of this World Cup start: in two days they lost their eight players without one win in their sixteen matches. Moreover, due to traffic troubles in Germany, Barry van Beers missed his plane, so he cancelled. All Dutch eyes are on two orange champions now: Dick Jaspers and Therese Klompenhouwer. Brian Knudsen finished just outside the top sixteen, was first reserve and may start as the only substitute on the third day.
The Vietnamese man on top, one of many Nguyens in his country, is by no means a nine days wonder: he remained unbeaten on both first and second day and finished twice with the same wonderful average, 1,875. Jordanian Naser Awwad dealt with two known World Cup fighters: Ilbay Dagdelen and Radek Novak. The group winner had a narrow escape: Awwad and Dagdelen played a draw, both ended at the same average, 1,111, the Jordanian had a run of 7, the Turk 5.
Adam Baca was the number ten in the ranks after two victories over Frank Spruzina and Gülsen Degener. The 24-year-old student in forest and wood sciences from Prague is playing his third World Cup. He is Libor Baca's brother, who's two years older and one of the leading board members in Czech billiards. The billiard nation has around 600 registered members in Prague, Kladno, Brno and Ostrava.
"We do a lot to develop billiards in our country," the Baca brothers assure. "We invite major players to our competition, like Dick Jaspers and Dion Nelin and we organize training camps." Adam Baca will complete his studies this year and wants to play more World Cups. "That is mainly a financial issue, but I really would like to develop further." The father of the two bro's who showed them the love for billiards, died seven years ago. ,,We live in one house with our mother now.''
Best player of this Czech generation is Martin Bohac, who beat both Brian Knudsen and Karaca from Germany in the European Championship for national teams last week. Radek Novak, another well-known Czech player, was eliminated today. The most famous billiard lady in the country, Irena Hambalkova, returned to her country after the European ladies Championship.
The ranking on the second day:
1 Huynh Phuong Linh Nguyen 4-1.875-8
2 Cem Ozkaya (Tur) 4-1.764-7
3 Tran Tanh Tu Nguyen (Viet) 4-1.578-6
4 Mehmet Uz (Tur) 4-1.500-9
5 Jose-Maria Mas (Spa) 4-1.463-8
6 Furkan Senel (Tur) 4-1428-8
7 Myeong Jong Cha (Kor) 4-1.250-8
8 Dong Hoon Kim (Kor) 4-1.224-7
9 Ahmet Koseoglu (Tur) 4-1.016-6
10 Adam Baca (Tsj) 4-0.952-5
11 Kevin Vasseur (Fra) 3-1.276-6
12 Muharrem Peker (Tur) 3-1.250-5
13 Hayri Altuntaslar (Tur) 3-1.224-8
14 Naser Awwad (Jor) 3-1.111-7
15 Tarik Yavuz (Tur) 2-1.348-8
16 Mikael Devogelaere (Fra) 2-1.159-7
The Vietnamese player, for the second day on top of the standings
Most striking groups for Wednesday:
Poule B: Jacob Sörensen, Ivo Gazdos, Tarik Yavuz
Poule E: Therese Klompenhouwer, Regay Henry, Muhammer Peker
Poule F: Jérôme Barbeillon, Gwendal Maréchal, Kevin Vasseur
Poule G: Adam Baca, Claus Maurer, Mashhour Abu Tayeh (Jor)
Poule H: Xuan Cuong Ma, Murat Tüzül, Ahmet Koseoglu
Poule I: Dong Hoon Kim, Gökhan Salman, Mehmet Goren
Poule J: Ronny Lindemann, Brian Knudsen, Myeong Jong Cha
Poule L: Peter Ceulemans, Jose-Maria Mas, Ja In Kang
Poule M: Peter De Backer, Kostas Kokkoris, Mehmet Uz
Poule O: Ahmet Alp, Cem Ozkaya, Turgay Orak
Kevin Vasseur, in the next round with two French country men: Gwendal Maréchal and Jérôme Barbeillon
Brian Knudsen, the first runner up may return in the next round