Twelve players from 11 countries competed in the Samsung Cup’s World Division among the 19-division preliminary in 
Seoul, Korea on July 20. Israel’s Ali Jabarin 1P defeated Slovakia’s Pavol Lisy 1P to earn a seat at the upcoming 21st edition of the Samsung. The first round, officially known as the Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance World Masters Baduk Championship, will be on September 6-8 in a double-elimination format. North America’s Eric Lui 1P (US) and Manuel Velasco 6D (Canada) both lost in the first round. See chart at right for the World Division’s full results.
In the division semi-final on July 19, China won 19 of 22 critical matchups against Korea, and accordingly became a huge winner with 14 spots from the prelim. Complete prelim winners: Byun Sangil, Kang Seungmin, Cheong Tae-sang (Korea); Tan Xiao, Tong Mengcheng, Li Qincheng, Guo Wenchao, Fan Tingyu, Liao Xingwen, Xia Chenkun, Fan Yunruo, Cai Jing, Huang Yunsong, Tuo Jiaxi, Yu Bin (‘Senior Division’), Lu Jia, Rui Naiwei (‘Women Division’) (China); Ida Atsushi (Japan); Ali Jabarin (Israel).
by Edward Zhang
