Seymen Ozbas Carries the Turkish Flag

Blois, September 15th, 2024.

The under-22 three-cushion has traditionally belonged to South Korea. They have dominated the event for a long time, with great players like Haeng Jik Kim and Myung Woo Cho. This year’s Korean finalist Yeong Yun Jo though, had to concede that the 2024 title belonged to a young Turk: Seymen Ozbas. He won the juniors final 35-26 in 27. 

Ozbas first needed to get past his (even younger) opponent Amir Ibraimov. He got the job done with a score of 35-18 in 24/23, mostly thanks to a strong 3-5-5 finish. There’s no doubt we’ll hear more from Ibraimov in the future. 

Yeong Yun Jo played his semi against Spain’s Marcos Morales. The stylish Korean ran a 5 and a 9 early in the match and was never in major trouble:  35-19 in 23/22. 

The final was – understandably – a nervy affair, with the world title at stake. You can’t blame these youngsters for the occasional burst of adrenaline. But then, most of them are pretty cool customers already, taking their cues from the sport’s role models. 

Ozbas had the lead for most of the match (14-12 and 27-18). Jo tried his all with a run of 6 to get back to 31-28, but a foreseeable kiss sent him to the chair. Ozbas finished with a neat 3 to claim his world title.  

Morales and Ibraimov shared the bronze. 

Denizon Akkoca had the tournament-high run with 13. 

Myeong Gyu Oh had the best match: 2.500. 

The best general average was played by the winner, Seymen Ozbas (1.507).

UMB.