[Brian Swartz]

Race Standings(mid-August)

There have been some changes, but nothing huge yet. The next few weeks will determine a lot more. Points change in the Race is in parentheses.

In

Bjorn Benda -- 8590(--)
Antonin Iglar -- 6040(--)

No changes here at all. These guys know where the bread is buttered, and it's not at the mickey-mouse events. As one would expect, they are set up well for the upcoming swing.


Probable

Mick Elder -- 5200(+450)
David Alvarez -- 4795(+300)
Perry Hogue -- 4790(+660)
David Almagro -- 4660(+250)

All of these added to their resumes; Elder is all but in at this point.


Contenders

Viktor Goncharenko -- 3100(+90)
Evgeni Topolski -- 3010(+150)
-------------------------------
Anil Mehul -- 2885(+90)

Topolski lost earlier than the other two here and had the room to play an additional event during the interim. As a result, Mehul's deficit to get in has grown some. All three lost at the QF stage in Washington.


Long Shots

David Prieto -- 2650(+330)
Julian Hammerstein -- 2470(+180)
Cestmir Marcek -- 2325(+410)
Giorgio Becerril -- 2150(--)


Most of these have been busy trying to catch up -- too busy, but we can't ignore that the gap has closed for now. Prieto in particular is on Mehul's heels at the moment. Of immediate interest is that Julian Hammerstein is banned from the Canada Masters -- this happens when a player misses a mandatory Masters event. The one they are banned from is their best result the previous year. His task has become even more desperate now. A big win at the German Open(500) a couple weeks ago has forced everyone to take Cestmir Marcek a bit more seriously ...