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2008 Sang Lee International Open July 20-27, 2008 Carom Café Billiards, Flushing, NY
Roland Forthomme from Belgium wins it all!!!
It was “3-cushion Billiards Week in New York” in Flushing from July 20th to July 27th as the top 3-cushion billiard players of the world assembled for the 4th annual Sang Lee International Open. The talented field came to honor the memory of a great champion and to compete for the $125,000 purse, which is the richest ever offered at a 3-cushion event on American soil. The tournament was played in a two-stage round-robin format (Qualification and Semifinal) that funneled into single-elimination games to decide the champion and the order of the top finishers. Seventy-seven players began the week divided into eleven groups of 7 players for the qualification rounds. The matches were played to 30 points. Eleven top players were seeded into each of these qualification groups including four US national champions, as well as champions from Turkey, Korea, Austria, and Ecuador: Michael Kang (USA), Jung-Han Heo (Korea), Dong-Koong Kang (Korea), Miguel Torres (USA), Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey), Andreas Efler (Austria), Javier Terán (Ecuador), Mazin Shooni (USA), Jeremy Bury (France), Sonny Cho (USA), and Hugo Patiño (USA). During the players’ meeting held in the morning of Sunday July 20th, the rest of the field was determined by a random draw, forming groups (called A-K). This led by chance to some groups being stronger than others. Only the top two finishers, based on winning record and points, advanced from each group, along with the five best-performing 3rd place finishers. This process resulted in a total of 27 qualifiers. Qualification Groups Jung-Han Heo, the player ranked 7th in South Korea, was the seeded player in Group “B”. The random draw had set the stage for a fierce battle among the 9th ranked Korean Deuk-Hee Hwang, two younger Ceulemans, Denmark’s dangerous Allan Jensen, as well as Francisco Parra, a New York top local. Parra’s one point loss to the young Peter Ceulemans kept him from advancing and enabled Peter’s uncle, Kurt Ceulemans (son of the great legend), to move ahead. The group’s seed Heo also emerged victorious and advanced. In Group “C”, Korea’s talented Dong-Kong Kang swept his field 6-0 to secure the 1st spot, and the second spot was taken by Bahattin Gündoğdu. Fans were delighted to discover that Baha is not only a talented 3-cushion player but also a celebrity entertainer and recording artist in Turkey with numerous “YouTube” music videos. Some fans of Semih Sayginer speculated that showmanship is in the Turkish temperament. Many fans were also impressed by Bora Jeong, a talented women’s 9-ball player who entered the event at the encouragement of her playing coach. The 2008 US National Champion, Miguel Torres, prevailed in Group “D,” falling to no one, although he was given a bit of trouble by the 2nd place finisher, Robert Raiford from Florida, who came within 5 points of a win against Torres. After Raiford advanced to the Semifinal round-robin, he took down a number of top European players. The random draw pitted the two top-ranked Turkish players against each other in Group “E”. Tayfun Tasdemir sprinted ahead of the field to cinch the first spot. The other Turkish favorite, Murat Naci Coklu, advanced to the second spot by points-criteria, tied in win-loss record of 4/2 with Bert van Manen (Netherlands). But van Manen had fallen hard to Coklu 6 points to 30 in their match allowing a wide berth. In Group “F”, the Austrian champion Andreas Efler never lost his grip on the first spot. Ira Lee, from New York, lost to Efler in the first round 30-16 but prevailed in a few close matches against the rest of the field to finish with a 5/1 record assuring him the 2nd position. Javier Terán, the 3-time Ecuadorian National Champion who was the seed for Group “G” dominated his field with a perfect record of 6/0. The second spot was secured by Heung-Sik Lee, the playing coach for the South Korean “team” with a record of 5/1, with his one loss to Terán. The 2006 US National Champion, Mazin Shooni, was one of only two Qualification round seeds that was unable to capture the 1st spot in their group but he qualified for the 2nd spot. The Group “H” number one spot was stolen from Shooni by Santiago Carmona of Colombia, who breezed through his flight undefeated. Group “I” was another flight in which the seeded player, Jeremy Bury (France), did not sweep the field. Jae-Ho Cho, the 27-year-old talent and 13th ranked national champion of Korea, took first place with an almost perfect record falling short by only 3 points to Bury, who settled for the 2nd spot. In Group “J”, the US National Champion from 2005, Sonny Cho took one loss to the Junior 3-cushion champion of Korea, Jin-Pyo Hong. Hong took an unexpected loss to Don Sperber of Florida, giving Hong the 2nd spot and both players finished with one loss each, advancing to the Semifinal round-robin. Hugo “Mister 31” Patiño, the former US National Champion took a loss to the ever-dangerous Min Jae Pak (USA), manager of Carom Café. Pak fell to the cue of Frederik Nielsen (Denmark). Both Patiño and Pak advanced from Group “K” with a 5/1 record. Ester Park, runner up to Mercedes Gonzalez in the 2007 US Women’s Nationals, who will represent the United States in the Ladies World 3-Cushion Championships in September participated in this flight. The top five 3rd place finishers from the Qualification round-robin were: Sang-Jin Lee (Group “D”), Don Sperber (Group “J”), Dan Kolacz (Group “C”), Seong-Cheol Kim (Group “I”), and Frederik Nielsen (Group “K”). In addition, as part of a traditional wildcard selection process used by the event organizers called “Auction/Lottery”, four players from the preliminaries advanced to the Semifinal round-robin as well. They were: Peter Ceulemans, Joel Switala, Bert van Manen and Deuk-Hee Hwang.
According to a pre-determined policy, the 9 seeded players were divided into four groups based on a combination of their finish in the 2007 SLIO and their position on the world ranking. The 27 Qualifiers and the 4 Wildcard players were then cycled into the four flights based upon their performance in the previous round. Semifinal round matches were played to 40 points. Each of the four Semifinal Groups (called “A-D”) contained 10 players. The top 2 from each group would advance to the “A-Final” making up the top 8 players in the tournament with matches played to 50 points (no equal innings). The 3rd, 4th, and 5th place finishers from each of the Semifinal Groups would advance to the “B-Final” to determine spots 9-20. The Finals were single elimination, however, and additional matches were played to determine rankings for prize money payouts. As anyone can imagine, as soon as the four groups in the Semifinal rounds were set, the excitement and drama ran extremely high during the fight for the top spots in each round. Unsurprisingly, with this difficult, talent-packed field none of the seeds in this group were able to go undefeated. Duek-Hee Hwang, one of the wildcard players, emerged with no losses as he took down two-time SLIO champion Caudron by two points in the first match of the first round. In the second round Hwang continued to upset the seeds by handing Choi a loss. Caudron began the tournament playing one of his worst matches against the Korean Hwang but in championship style, fired up and plowed through his next match of the day against Sperber finishing 40 points in 14 innings. Caudron continued on at a determined, feverish pace finishing his next 2 matches each in 15 innings and averaging 1.946 for the duration of the Semifinals securing himself the #2 spot into the “A-Final.” Hwang took top honors and remained undefeated, finishing the flight with a 1.423 avg. Up until the 8th round it was looking like a showdown between Caudron and Choi in the final match of the Semifinals for a spot in the “A-Final.” Hwang was undefeated and was assured a spot in the “A-Final” while Choi and Caudron had one loss each. Hwang had a relatively easy game left, and Caudron and Choi would face each other in the final round but Choi faultered and lost to Santiago Carmona. This meant that Caudron would get the spot in the “A-Final” even if he lost to Choi because Caudron's average (the second tie-breaker after wins and losses) was much higher than Choi's Choi had to settle for the “B-Final.” The two other players to fill out the “B-Final” with Choi were seed Raymond Ceulemans and Jae-Ho Cho. In Group “B”, Semih Sayginer and Ramon Rodriguez were the seeds, but the upper half of the field proved so strong that it was a battle for everyone. Sayginer started in top form, finishing his first 2 matches in 18 and 19 innings. He remained undefeated until the third day of the semifinals taking two harsh, down to the wire losses against Dong-Koong Kang and Ramon Rodriguez. But despite the comeback from Rodriguez against Sayginer, Ramon experienced two “one-hole” losses himself, losing to Michael Kang (USA) and Jeremy Bury (France) both of whom needed only one point each. This misfortune knocked him out of the “B-Final” by a single point as he finished 6th in the group. In the end, despite Sayginer’s losses he advanced into the “A-Final” with a grand average of 1.596 along with formidable Dong-Koong Kang, who notably won two matches in 17 innings. Onto the “B-Final” were Jeremy Bury, Sonny Cho (USA) and Kurt Ceulemans (Belgium). In Group “C”, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Martin Horn dominated the field leaving every one else to fight to make it to the “B-Final.” Blomdahl, intent on repeating his 2005 glory at this event, made sure no one dangerous even got close. In the process, he suppressed two US National champions (Miguel Torres and Hugo Patiño) without letting either get past 15 points. He almost seemed to “relax” a bit with Seong-Cheol Kim, a player of half his average – as he played his worst game against the Korean from San Francisco and watched the talented amateur reach 34 points before closing him out. But for the rest of field, Blomdahl had his game face on – seemingly delivering his highest average performances selectively against the best players – playing between 2.2 and 2.5 average in more than half of his matches. He took the number one spot with a grand average of 1.885. The solid German, Martin Horn, also advanced to the “A-Final” with a comparable average of 1.799 after two losses to Blomdahl and Torres. Turkish favorite, Murat Naci Coklu and the two former US National Champions settled for the “B-Final” in this competitive flight. Turkey’s shining star, Tyfun Tasdemir stole the show in Group “D” overshadowing top seed Roland Forthomme (Belgium) and Korean favorite and seed Kyung-Roul Kim. After easily dominating his group in the qualifications, Tayfun Tasdemir rocketed though the opening rounds of the Semifinals finishing with wins in 18, 17, and 10 innings for his first three matches with an average of 2.667. His 10 inning match with Jin-Pyo Hong was the most perfect game in the tournament which netted him an extra $4000 for the Best Game Prize. The prize for Best Game was $500 times the average (minimum $1,500) up to an average of 3.999. If the Best Game was 4.000 or better, the prize doubled to $1,000 times the average. With the bar now set, many players made valiant attempts to split or best this achievement Tasdemir finished with a 1.901 average after the Semifinals (second to Caudron who averaged 1.946) with only one loss to Jung-Han Heo and finished first in his group ahead of the two seeds in the group. Forthomme suffered a loss in the first round to Peter Ceulemans but then won seven straight matches, each in 27 innings or less. In the final round of the Semifinals he was handed his second defeat, this time by Tasdemir who finished quickly again in 16 innings. With two losses, Roland Forthomme with a terrific 1.667 average squeaked into second place ahead of Jun-Han Heo who dropped into the “B-Final.” Peter Ceulemans and Javier Terán, each with three losses, filled in the other two “B-Final” spots from this group. The unfortunate Kyung-Roul Kim was defeated by Peter Ceulemans in the second round then suffered a loss from Heo, . A difficult match against Tasdemir (38 to 40) and a harsh loss to Forthomme (12 to 40) left Mr. Kim out of the finals. Of the 180 matches played in the Semifinals of the 2008 SLIO, 40 matches were completed in 20 innings or less (that’s 40 matches in which the winner averages 2.0 or more). Semi-Finals Group A
“B-Final”: In the Quarterfinals, Jung-Han Heo made 40 in 19 to wipe Terán out of the top four. Jae-Ho Cho started his first three innings scoreless against Coklu but regained his impressive style finishing in 16 innings with a high run of 11. Bury dispatched US hopeful Torres and Kurt Ceulemans won over the struggling Choi. Heo faced Cho in the Semifinal match but now it was Heo who finished in 16 innings with a high run of 10. Bury handily defeated Ceulemans in the other Semifinal match 40 to 21 in 25 innings. If this was the “B-Final” what was happening in the “A-Final”!? “A-Final”: In the Quarterfinal matches Blomdahl faced D. K. Kang and Caudron met Sayginer in the top half of the draw, while Forthomme played the undefeated Hwang and Tasdemir went against Horn in the bottom half of the draw. Determined to make his mark in the US, Roland Forthomme blew away his Korean opponent Deuk-Hee Hwang 50-18 in only 25 innings – averaging 2.000 with the help of a high run of 11 points. Martin Horn, who came into this stage averaging close to 1.800, continued his pace starting his match against Tasdemir with a 7 point run and finished in an exciting 29 innings. On the opposite side of the bracket, Torbjörn Blomdahl appeared determined to resurrect his 2005 title at this event. He destroyed Dong-Koong Kang, who had done so well up until this point. The heavy-hitter Blomdahl unleashed a 2.381 game which included a run of 11 points to close out Kang in 21 innings. But the best was yet to come. The Quarterfinal match between Frédéric Caudron and Semih Sayginer was the most amazing match of the entire tournament. As fans recalled, last year Semih Sayginer took an early lead before Caudron came back out of nowhere to win by one point. This year Sayginer opened the match with five and Caudron immediately responded with four. Sayginer added two and Caudron three in the second inning to level the score at seven each. In the third inning, Sayginer unleashed a run of thirteen matching the tournament high run thus far, giving him a thirteen point lead. Caudron answered with four cutting his deficit to nine. In the fourth inning Sayginer added one more to his total and defending champion Caudron fearlessly stepped up and ran eleven to take the lead 22-21. Both players averaging over 5.000 at the end of four innings! At the end of seven innings it was again tied at 25-25. The following inning Caudron catapulted ahead with a run of twelve this time. Caudron continued to slowly surge forward trying to avoid giving Sayginer the upper hand at the end of the match. Sayginer was under pressure as Caudron drove ahead 44-29. Sayginer responded bravely with style and charisma scoring 5-0-3-4 to bring his total to 41 points while Caudron added only two to his total. After sixteen innings it was Caudron still on top 46-41. Not knowing who to root for, the crowd applauded both champions loudly all through their amazing performances. Charging to the table needing nine after Caudron missed, Sayginer played flawlessly making point-after-point and positioning the balls perfectly. The crowd sensed a run-out was possible and the atmosphere was tense but Sayginer scored seven points to take a late lead and then missed. Caudron would have another chance. Cool and calm as always Caudron immediately posted three points and was shooting for the match. After another close miss, Sayginer now had his final chance. He scored one and was faced with an extremely difficult and delicate short angle shot to win the match. Sayginer’s momentary hesitation caused him to miss to the groans of the audience. Breathless throughout, the crowd exploded in applause once Caudron closed out with an even more difficult short angle. After eighteen innings and an average of 2.778 over Sayginer’s 2.722, Caudron earned a spot with Blomdahl in the Semifinal match. The crowd still abuzz with excitement from the Caudron vs Sayginer match from the previous night, the Blomdahl vs. Caudron Semifinal match went back and forth for the first five innings between the only two defending champions. Both champions proceeded cautiously at the start, slower than their usual pace but soon Blomdahl fired away with an 8 point run to take the first real lead of the match, 17-6. Caudron soon responded with an equal amount of bravado and after 6 more innings, the score was once again tied 21-21. Then uncharacteristically, Blomdahl the Lion faltered and left Caudron an opening for nearly 12 innings. Caudron seized the moment to surge ahead making 22 points in the last ten innings of the match to win 50-28 in 28 innings. In the Horn vs. Forthomme Semifinal match, Horn seemed to slow his pace under the lights of the television table and appeared to struggle having made only 5 points going into the tenth inning. Forthomme on the other hand was steadfast with repeated runs of 3’s and 4’s whenever the opportunity appeared. He kept his eye on the prize and closed out Horn 50-32 in only 30 innings. Horn then met Blomdahl in the match for 3rd/4th place where Blomdahl prevailed with a score of 50-47 in 27 innings. Horn played beautifully all week. The much awaited final match was set between Caudron and Forthomme. The house was packed as the players entered the arena for the final match to begin their warm-ups. Caudron looked poised and calm but very serious. Forthomme seemed deeply determined and focused. Forthomme began with a run of 8. Caudron missed and could not seem to get started only scoring 6 points in the first 8 innings while Forthomme slowly and steadily built his lead. After 8 innings it was Forthomme way ahead 24-6. Over the next 8 innings Forthomme’s pace slowed a bit which allowed Caudron to chip away at Forthomme’s lead by scoring 12 points to Forthomme’s 5 points cutting the deficit to 11 points. Forthomme tried to distance himself from Caudron scoring 4-1-0-1 in the following innings but Caudron closed the gap by scoring 7-5-0-2. Pressured now with the score at 33-32 and only a one point lead Forthomme followed with three open innings allowing Caudron to take the lead 35-33 after 23 innings. Rising from his chair, the unwavering Forthomme surged ahead with a run of eleven to bring him within 6 points of the title. Caudron fought back with 2 and then 3 but Forthomme confidently added 4 more to his total. Caudron could only answer with 1 and Forthomme finished the match 50-41 in 27/26 innings. Currently ranked number 5 in the world, Roland Forthomme has won two Worldcup tournaments (Hurghada 2005 and Volos 2006). He has won the Belgium Cup four times and was the 2005 Superprestige Champion. In his two previous appearances at the Sang Lee International Open he finished 6th and 8th. Winning the 2008 Sang Lee International Open is surely a distinguished accomplishment in his career.
The Final match was followed by: Semih Sayginer – The Show Must Go On, an exhibition and performance by the artistic grandmaster, Semih Sayginer. As usual, Semih delighted the crowd with a dazzling display of artistic shots and charismatic humor unequalled in the world of billiards. The event was sponsored by the LG Group, CaromTV.com, Iwan Simonis Cloth – the official cloth of the 2008 Sang Lee International Open, Aramith balls – the official ball of the 2008 Sang Lee International Open, Schuler Cue, and Vitamin Water - Family Beverage. The 2008 Sang Lee International Open is a USBA/UMB/CPB sanctioned event produced by HighRock Productions, in association with Carom Café Billiards and distributed in Korea by Dragon Promotions. The event is only possible with the support of our sponsors. The organizers would especially like to thank William P. Bourne, Lynne Bremer, Dr. Michael J. Fedak, Marty Isserlis, Bob Jewett, Ruth and David Levine, Allen C. Meier, Gordon B. Pattee, and Douglas P. Warwick for their generous support. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional Hotel Option for Sang Lee International Tournament: Wingate Hotel The 2008 Sang Lee International Open will be held at Carom Café Billiards in Flushing , New York on July 20 to 27. The tournament is sanctioned by the USBA, UMB, & CPB. Inscription for players is now open. Entry Fee: $450 Please see the below for complete tournament information. Save the Date Carom Café Billiards 34-02 Linden Place Flushing , NY 11354 718 358 8585 |
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