02/01/2017
Bursa - The big guns of 3-cushion will report to Bursa, Turkey next week. It's the first stop of the seven World Cup cycle, and realistically, more than a dozen different players could win it.
Bursa with its 2.3 million people is the fourth city in Turkey. The Turkish organization, in the Ataturk Congress Centre, opens its doors from 6 to February 12 with a total of 150 participants. Four of the most prominent players that are high on the world ranking, recently won their national title: Caudron in Belgium, Jaspers in the Netherlands, Blomdahl in Sweden and Sanchez in Spain.
The world’s top three underwent a few changes in the first month of the year. Dick Jaspers climbed to the number one position after his victory in the Dutch Masters. Caudron is now second. Torbjörn Blomdahl passes Dani Sánchez as number three on the world ranking.The Spaniard closed a great year as the new world champion, the Dutchman was the overall World Cup winner. They will show up in Antwerp in the Super Cup battle on Saturday the 4th of March. The first showdown this year, in Bursa in the northwestern Marmara region, gathers the big names and a lot of Turkish (41) and Korean (28) World Cup players after the winter break.
UMB President Farouk Barki: ,, We are at the start of a busy calendar in 2017, with not only the seven World Cups, but also the European championships in Brandenburg and the World Games in Poland. Moreover, in the first World Cup the new UMB rules are introduced with 14 instead of 12 seeded players, three instead of five wildcards and a new system with more prize money, 17.000 Euros per World Cup, of which 8.000 Euros for the winner. The total amount in seven World Cups increased to 120.000 Euros.’’
The Turkish federation, which is hosting this World Cup for the third time in Bursa, is flourishing as never before. Ersan Ercan, the president: ,,We also organize a tournament for the Turkish championship in Antalya this month with 1.200 participants. Three-cushion and pool make a huge progress.’’
The top fourteen of the players list in Bursa is led by Frédéric Caudron (Belgium), Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) and Dani Sánchez (Spain), followed by Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden), Eddy Merckx (Belgium), Marco Zanetti (Italy), Nikos Polychronopoulos (Greece), Murat Naci Coklu (Turkey), Haeng Jik Kim (South Korea), Jérémy Bury (France), Jae Ho Cho (South Korea), Sameh Sidhom (Egypt), Roland Forthomme (Belgium) and Tayfun Tasdemir ( Turkey). The UMB wildcard goes to Huberney Cataño from Colombia, the wildcards of the organization to Semih Saygıner and Can Capak.
Myung-Woo Cho, Sung-Won Choi, Dong-Koong Kang Choong-Bok Lee, Jae-Guen Kim and Jung-Han Heo, the last World Cup winner in Hurghada, are the main Korean challengers. The Vietnamese come to Bursa with their traditional top guns and three Dutch players make their come-back in the World Cup cycle: Glenn Hofman, Dave Christiani and Barry van Beers.
The first qualification start on Monday, February 6th at 11.00. The main tournament is launched on Thursday, February 10th at 12.00. The semi-finals are on Sunday, February 12th. The tournament director is Mr. Erol Karakaya.
Turkish president Ercan: ,,We receive a lot of support with our organization from Mr. Recep Altepe, the mayor of Bursa, who is a billiard player himself and knows the soul of the game.’’ The current top five in Turkey is: Can Capak, Semih Saygıner, Tayfun Tasdemir, Murat Celik and Murat Naci Coklu.
All matches at the Bursa World Cup are streamed live by Kozoom. Premium membership can be purchased on www.Kozoom.com.
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