European Go Federation pro Mateusz Surma 1p beat a strong field of players from outside the main go countries to win the Samsung Cup World Baduk Masters World Division and a spot in the main tournament. The 12-player event, which took place at the Korea Baduk Association headquarter in Seoul’s brooding summer weather of heat, humidity and rain, included contenders from North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asian countries other than Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan. For the first time, the World Division welcomed pros certified by the EGF and AGA, including Surma. Surma received a bye in the first round, defeated fellow European Artem Kachanovskyi 1p in the second round and Canadian Gansheng Shi 1p in the semifinals. Shi had a bye and beat a Thai player in the second round to advance to the semifinals. In the final, Surma faced the surprise winner of the other side of the table, Victor (Guang) Chow 7d of South Africa. Chow, an active Internet player of long standing, had played in all the Samsung Worlds starting in 2014 without much success, but this year beat Canada’s Ryan Li 1p in round one, Israel’s Ali Jabarin 1p in round two and US player Eric Lui 1p in round three. Lui had beaten a Vietnamese amateur in round one and Pavol Lisy 1p of Russia in round two before facing Chow. In the final match, according to Shi, Chow established an early lead but fell behind after making a big blunder. Surma will return in September for the main Samsung Cup tournament.
– Andy Okun
