Merckx finally finds success in 2009 Porto World Cup

Eddy Merckx from Belgium could lift his first World Cup trophy after capturing the World Cup event in Porto, Portugal.

In the final Merckx edged Nikos Polychronopoulos (Greece) 3-2. The frame scores were 15-6, 2-15, 15-6, 9-15 and 15-2.

Surprise men Jae Ho Cho (South Korea) and Jeremy Bury (France) lost out in the semifinals.

Merckx received €5,500 for the win and Polychronopoulos got €3,500 for second place.

Jung Han Heo from South Korea had the highest general average among the 55 competitors with 2.014. He also had the highest single match average of 2.812. Merckx had a perfect 15 for highest run of the tournament.

This was a tournament of upsets, with many of the top players being ousted in the early rounds. Among those failing to reach the last 16 were defending champion Dick Jaspers (Netherlands), Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden), Frédéric Caudron (Belgium) and Daniel Sanchez (Spain).

Although this was the first World Cup win for Merckx he has previously won the 2007 European Championship and the 2008 World Championship.

Merckx moves from 11th to third in the World Cup Ranking. Polychronopoulos improves 11 places to seventh. Caudron and Martin Horn (Germany) hang on to the top two positions.

The Belgian jumps to sixth in the World Players Ranking. Jaspers, Sanchez and Caudron are the top three.

The event took place 29 June - 5 July 2009 at the Centro de Congressis Matosinhos, Porto, Portugal. It was the third of five events in the 2009 World Cup. The next event is in Suwon, Korea, 16-21 November 2009.

See also:

• Official page (Portuguese)
• Tournament Details (UMB)
• WorldCup Oporto 2009 (Entrada 51 - Spanish)
• Vroegtijdige uitschakeling in Worldcup Porto (Dick Jaspers - Dutch)
• Greek wins second place in a World Billiard Championship (GR Reporter)
• jamcouto's Channel (Videos)
• jamcouto1: My Gallery (Photos)
• Eddy Merckx (Wikipedia)

Related posts:

• Sanchez wins World Cup (2006 Porto World Cup)
• Third win of the season for Blomdahl in Porto (2007 Porto World Cup)
• Jaspers wins Porto World Cup (2008 Porto World Cup)
• Caudron takes World Cup season opener in Sluiskil (2009 World Cup)
• Martin Horn lifts first career World Cup trophy in Turkey (2009 World Cup)