07/25/2016
PORTO - The Estádio Da Dragão has long built a great reputation in the world of sports, and the Porto World Cup is making a name for itself in the world of billiards.
The 2016 edition of the Portuguese tournament was won by the Belgian world number one, Frédéric Caudron. He overcame Greek Nikos Polychronopoulos in the final: 40-25 in 16 innings. For Caudron, it was the second World Cup win in a row.
The supremacy of the champion on the final Sunday was impressive. Not only did he dominate the final, he was also superior in his semifinal against Daniel Sánchez: 40-23 in only 12 innings. Polychronopoulos had reached the final by beating Marco Zanetti in a nailbiter:40-37 in 25.
CEB - Secretary General Helmut Biermann did not hesitate to praise the work that was done in Porto. "We were welcomed in a spacious and well-equipped venue, and a professional team provided a perfect organization." He was also quick to notice that once again, the European players filled the last four slots. "The upcoming and highly rated Asian players were not able to get past the top Europeans."
Caudron owed his title in no small part to his ability to get out of the blocks. Both times, in the semi against Dani Sánchez and the final against Nikos Polychronopoulos, the opening was so strong that Caudron was never in danger in the latter stages. That resulted in a comfortable 40-23 in 12 in the semis against Sánchez (3.333/1.916) and in the final against Polychronopoulos, 23-4 in eight innings turned into 40-25 in 16 (2.500 / 1.562). How high the overall level was in this World Cup, was demonstrated by the averages of the top five: Caudron 2.197, Polychronopoulos 1.989, Sánchez 1.986, Zanetti 1.869, Jaspers 2.041.
Nikos Polychronopoulos played the third World Cup final in his career. The Belgians were always his ‘angstgegners’: two times the Greek champion lost to Frédéric Caudron (in Sluiskil and Porto), once against Eddy Merckx in Matosinhos. ,,I was defeated in this final by a world star’’, concluded the Greek. ,,The most important thing for me is that I played a great tournament, and I could show my level and confidence. I am convinced that my time will come, to win my first World Cup.’’
The finals of the four World Cups so far were all matches dominated by Europeans and especially the Belgian/Dutch hegemony showed. Dick Jaspers won in Bursa, Eddy Merckx in Luxor, Frédéric Caudron in Ho Chi Minh and Frédéric Caudron again in Porto. The American Pedro Piedrabuena, the Korean Jae Ho Cho and Vietnamese Nguyen Quoc Nguyen were the only non-Europeans on the podium this season.
The World Cup in Porto was marked by a high level in the main draw. Hyung Kong Kim, the new star of the Koreans, advanced with 2.666 on the last qualification day. His first appearance in the main tournament was promising, he only missed his last carom against Torbjörn Blomdahl and was punished at 40-39. The good news for the Koreans is that Sung-Won Choi, the world champion two years ago, showed to be on his way back.
Dick Jaspers and Frédéric Caudron played the shortest matches in 11 innings, the Dutchman also recorded the highest run with 15. Dani Sánchez stole the hearts of his home crowd in the match against Dick Jaspers, in which he played, in his own words, the best billiards of his life for five innings (33-2).
Nikos Polychronopoulos, the whirlwind from Athens, pleased the crowd with his signature swift scoring, Tayfun Tasdemir and Sung-Won Choi met in a titanic 40-40 battle, in which the Korean pulled the trigger with nine in the shootout.
With his victory, Frédéric Caudron increased his margin in the world ranking. The Belgian leads with 396 points ahead of Blomdahl with 350, Merckx is on 311, Jaspers has 303 and Zanetti 232. Nikos Polychronopoulos is back in the top twelve, he went from twelfth to seventh position. Tayfun Tasdemir dropped out of the elite twelve, Haeng Jik Kim took his place.
Tournament organizer Alipio Jorge, who enjoyed the packed grandstands during the closing days, did not want to prejudge the future of his World Cup. ,, We will decide how to go ahead within a month, but we have big plans to expand the tournament. " The Portuguese figurehead of the organization, a commentator himself during matches, cherished the growing media interest in the FC Porto stronghold. ,, The future looks healthy."
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