12/07/2015
BORDEAUX – The man op top of the stage showed his big smile to the audience in the Palais des Congrès in Bordeaux. Torbjörn Blomdahl, who has won everything in his long career and is the number one ranked player in the world, took a new highlight at the three cushion World championship when he beat Korean coming man Dong Koong Kang in the final: 40-40, 2-1 in the shootout.
The strategy in the final was mostly tactical and defensive. Both players took a few risks, there were no high runs and the Korean had the slightly better start. When the Swede was seriously trailing (37-22) and the audience became loud in an attempt to prolong the match, his opponent got nervous. Dong Koong Kang missed twice at important moments, but still got over the line first when he ran two and one: 40-34.
As so often in this tournament (Zanetti, Sanchez), the spectators were treated to a sensational equalizer. Blomdahl stayed cool and made six for the draw. The shoot-out for the win went the Swede's way. Dong Koong Kang made the break, had an easy round-the-table shot for his second, but hit it way too thin and missed.
The Swede's arms went up, he bowed to the audience with over 1000 spectators and enjoyed the cheers for minutes. The contrast was harsh: Dong Koong Kang was in his seat , looking very disappointed. The Korean, who had won a first prize of 38.000 Euro in Seoul only weeks ago, was looking down and out on his chair and was comforted by some friends and fellow players.
Torbjörn Blomdahl's last world title dates back to 1997, when he beat Dutchman Raimond Burgman in the final in Grubbenvorst. Since then he has lost four finals: against Marco Zanetti, Frédéric Caudron, Dani Sánchez and last year against Sung-Won Choi. After this 2015 WC, a tremendous organizational success for Kozoom with filled stands, there is no doubt: Torbjörn Blomdahl will be a force in global 3-cushion for years to come.
The final ranking in Bordeaux:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 1.764-9
2 Dong Koong Kang 1.621-11
3 Eddy Merckx 1.940-15
3 Dani Sánchez 1.817-12
5 Tayfun Tasdemir 1.870-12
6 Dick Jaspers 1.792-10
7 Ruben Legazpi 1.616-8
8 Sameh Sidhom 1.146-19
9 Frédéric Caudron 1.611-11
10 Jae Ho Cho 1.475-11
11 Jae Guen Kim 1.355-8
12 Adnan Yüksel 1.244-10.
The new world ranking:
1) Torbjörn Blomdahl 442
2) Dani Sanchez 319
3) Dick Jaspers 299
4) Eddy Merckx 281
5) Tayfun Tasdemir
6) Marco Zanetti 224
7) Dong Koong Kang 187
8) Roland Forthomme 181
9) Hyung-Bum Hwang 174
10) Sameh Sidhom 173
11) Jae Ho Cho 170
12) Frédéric Caudron 157
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