Saturday, 7th of March
In the last four of the 2009 World Team Championship there will be a re-match of last year's semi-final between Korea and defending champion Sweden, while Belgium will challenge host nation Germany on Sunday.
It was a drama until the very end between Belgium and Spain in the quarter-final. Spain was close to advance when Daniel Saanchez and Ruben Legazpi both led 2-0 sets. But Eddy Merckx and Roland Forthomme hit back; both matches went to a decider. At the end they were all square with one match all and five sets all. Only the team average gave Belgium a slight edge by 1.602-1.556; only two cannons more for the Belgians made the difference. Match winner for Belgium was Roland Rorthomme, who won his decider in only four innings thanks to a run of 13 by a clear margin of 15-6.
It was mutch less nerve wracking for Korea as they celebrated
a clear win versus last year's runner-up Netherlands by 2-0 matches
and 5-2 sets. When Kang Dong Kung defeated Jean van Erp 3-1 the
2-1 lead of Kim Kyung-Roul against Jean-Paul de Bruijn was enough
for Korea to secure their second semi-final appearance in a row.
Host nation Germany and defending champion Sweden have reach the
semi-final of the World Team Championship in Viersen. Both won
their quarter-finals by 2-0 matches,
Host nation Germany and defending champion Sweden have reach
the semi-final of the World Team Championship in Viersen. Both
won their quarter-finals by 2-0 matches, but while Germany's success
against Denmark was clear affair with 5-2 sets the Swedes had
to survive a decider on both tables.
Germany's number one Martin Horn had lost the first set against
Dion Nelin by a clear margin, but the he showed mental strength
and won three straight sets. Chrstian Rudolph showed his best
performance in recent times in his first two sets against Tonny
Carlsen and took the lead by 2-0 sets. Carlsen hit one back in
the third, but because of Horn's 3-1 the match was decided at
that point.
Jérémy Bury and Jérôme Barbeillon from France drove Sweden all the way, but in the decisive moment Torbjörn Blomdahl and Michael Nilsson again found another gear. The success team from the north got both deciders.
The Netherlands and Belgium made the best out of their second chance and complete now the quarter-final line-up of the World Team Championship. The Netherlands impressed in the 2-0 defeat of Japan at the end of round robin stage two. Jean-Paul de Bruijn and Jean van Erp never gave their opponents a chance to win a set. The team average of 1,875 for the Dutch team proved how great their performance was.
Also Belgium never was in danger versus Turkes and landed an easy and impressive 2-0. It was Roland Forthomme who took care of the highlight so far, getting a run of 14 points when he whitewashed Lüfti Cenet in the first set. This is a new highest break for the event.
In the quarter-final the Netherlands now play Korea while Belgium
and Spain battle out another semi-final place. Before that defending
champion will be challenged by France and host nation Germany
plays Denmark in the last eight.
Belgium defeated Turkey by 2-0, both both matches went to a decider. Former world champion Eddy Merckx lost the first set 12-15, but the he found another gear and won the match with a very good average of 1.615. Also his oponent Kostas Papakostantinou played a great average of 1.400. His team mate Kostas Antonatos also made it 1-1, but in the decider Roland Forthomme did not give him any chance and whitewashed the Greek in only 5 innings. A draw in their last round robin match versus Turkey would be enough for Belgium to qualify for the last eight.
Japan defeated Portugal with 2-0 matches and 4-1 setes - exactly the same score line than the Netherlands the day before. But Tsuyoshi Suzuki ruined the team average as he needed 53 innings for 37 points in his 2-1 defeat of Manuel Oliveire. In the decider Suzuki made a run of 12 points already in the second inning, but it took him 10 visits to the table to make the last two cannons.