This Saturday in Viersen/Germany, the semifinalists of the World Championships Three-Cushion National Teams were determined. After the group stage had concluded with victories for, among others, Germany and Turkiye, the tournament entered its decisive phase in the late afternoon.

The numerous spectators in the Festhalle were treated to one drama after another. In the first two quarterfinals, Turkiye faced Vietnam, while in parallel Team Sweden played against the USA for a place in the semifinals.

Between Turkiye and Vietnam, the lead in both singles matches changed hands almost throughout the entire playing time, making it very difficult to predict who would ultimately come out on top. In the end, it was the Vietnamese who were able to raise their level slightly and won both singles matches to advance to the semifinals.

The match between Sweden and the USA also developed into a thriller. While Torbjörn Blomdahl gave Sweden the lead, Pedro Piedrabuena equalized shortly afterward for the Americans. This meant that, for the first time this year, the Scotch Double had to decide the outcome, in which all four protagonists play in alternating turns.

In this set to 15 points, a small preliminary decision fell at a score of 5:5 when the Scandinavians produced a run of eight points. However, the USA did not give up and closed the gap to 12:14. But then it was Blomdahl who was able to score the winning point for his Swedish team. He and his teammate David Pennor finally embraced each other in sheer joy.

It became even more dramatic in the duel between defending champions Netherlands and the team from Colombia. Huberney Catano managed to stay close behind Glenn Hofman of the Netherlands, who had been leading throughout, and overtook him in the final stretch. He was thus able to equalize his teammate Pedro Gonzalez’s loss against Dick Jaspers.

Therefore, this match also went into the Scotch Double, which experienced further drama at a score of 14:13 in favor of the Netherlands. Hofman missed the match ball twice by just a few millimeters before Team Colombia (pictured) was able to take the next opportunity and score the two missing points.

Last but not least, host Germany faced the Spanish team. Martin Horn and Ruben Legazpi were more or less level throughout the entire match. Toward the end, the momentum seemed to swing in favor of the Spaniard, but Martin Horn does not give up easily. With seemingly endless nerves of steel, he came back and secured the first point with a 40:38 victory.

In parallel, Amir Ibraimov initially appeared clearly on the losing path. However, in the final third of the match, Sergio Jimenez increasingly began to struggle and remained stuck at 31 points for a long time. Ibraimov, who had initially been trailing by more than fifteen points, caught up point by point and at 29:31 was within striking distance. Then, however, Jimenez regained his composure and created some breathing room with a run of four points. This ultimately proved sufficient to secure a 40:37 win and level the score.

Thus, the match went into the doubles to 15 points. Legazpi/Jimenez started furiously, quickly racing to a 9:1 lead. But Horn/Ibraimov were far from finished and fought back with a run of nine points to turn the match around.

At a score of 14:11, it was finally youngster Ibraimov who provided the decisive moment. With the final point, the German duo embraced, and the Viersen Festhalle was virtually turned upside down. To standing ovations, Team Germany was celebrated for minutes and bid farewell from the hall.

The semifinals will take place on Sunday: at 11:00 a.m., Sweden will face Vietnam, followed by Germany versus Colombia at 1:00 p.m.

Results of the third day

Group stage:
Germany – Mexico 4:0
Vietnam – France 2:2
Turkiye – Japan 4:0
Colombia – Jordan 4:0

Quarterfinals:
Turkiye – Vietnam 0:4
Sweden – USA 3:2
Germany – Spain 3:2
Netherlands – Colombia 2:3