3-Cushion
INCHEON - The Spanish toreador Dani Sánchez, with his huge number of titles in the world of three cushion for many years, has finally shown his reputation again. At the Skypark hotel in Incheon, near to Seoul, the 44-year-old, four-time world champion was the best in 3CC Survival Masters in a terrifying battle with Semih Sayginer. The final fight with four finalists, in the new game format, was decided in the last seconds in favour of the Spaniard from Barcelona. Semih Sayginer, back at the world top, missed after a brilliant come-back the carom that Dani Sánchez crowned to Master. The winner received 50.000 euros, Sayginer as number the runner-up 21.000, Sung-Won Choi 18.000 and Marco Zanetti 15.000.
Dani Sánchez, who won his last world title in Bordeaux in 2016 and dropped to the 13th place on the world rankings, reacted in an emotional comment immediately in the arena right after the final. ,,I am still shaking, I can feel my heart beat. The tournament was a real 'Survival' for me, because I saved myself by two runs of 9 and 15 in the semis. And now, in the final match, Semih Sayginer could beat me. I was watching nervously on my chair: one carom more by Semih for a shootout and with two more, he was the winner. But he missed an easy shot under great tension.'' It was the carom that made the difference between win (50.000 euros) or being second (21.000)!!
The final with four of the best players in the world went up and down from the break. Dani Sánchez had the best start, was passed in the third by Sung-Won Choi, who remained on top until the break: Choi 39, Sánchez and Zanetti 35 and Sayginer 7 points. The score changed immediately after the second start, when Sayginer sovereignly took the lead with runs of 8, 4 and 8 (Sayginer 84, Sánchez 68, Choi 52, Zanetti 48). When there were ten minutes left, Sayginer led 83-63 in his battle with Sánchez, but in the second last inning, the Spaniard struck again with 5 (75-75). The final round trip for the four players brought the tension to the climax. Sánchez scored twice, giving him a 7-point lead. Sayginer, with the clock at 0 and the last player to score, made his first (76-72), but just missed out his last five-cushion shot.
The Survival tournament, in a wonderful arena, but without spectators, was commented both by supporters and opponents afterwards. The Master himself, Dani Sánchez, said: ,,I like the system, of course, because I won. And it could be even better with a few small changes, but we all have seen the tension and the excitement in the matches. That should be fantastic for the billiard fans, all the time with four world class players in one match. This is a big success for our sport, it's a great show. I hope these Masters will make our sport more fascinating all over the world.''
The final day first brought the eight players for the semi-finals to the arena. Sameh Sidhom, Dick Jaspers, Murat Naci Coklu and Jae-Ho Cho couldn't match with the other stars in the second last session. Sidhom's free-fall after a strong Masters start was most striking. Jaspers and Coklu both had a poor start, giving Zanetti and Choi the chance to quickly take advantage. Semih Sayginer made the gap in his group shortly after the break when he used the bonus to run out from 73 to 116. Dani Sánchez attacked in the nex inning, from 60 to 102 after the stop. Semih Sayginer led the group from the restart, Dani Sánchez sprang to life with a big run of fifteen. Sameh Sidhom was way behind and even finished with eight minus. Jae-Ho Cho was no threat, Sayginer (3.266 average) and Sánchez (2.533) had a walk-over to the finish line.
Marco Zanetti and Sung-Won Choi finished it off against Jaspers and Coklu. The gap at the stop was already pretty comfortable: Zanetti with 63, Choi with 47 ahead of Jaspers with 7 and Coklu with 3. That scenario was repeated after the break, although Jaspers made a brave attempt to fight back. The Dutch man however couldn't close and finished more than thirty points down. Marco Zanetti finished number one with 2.500, Choi was second with 1.928.
The ranking for the semi-finals:
1 Marco Zanetti 106-14-2.500-10
2 Sung-Won Choi 74-14-1.928-6
3 Dick Jaspers 42-14-1.357-4
4 Murat Naci Coklu 18-14-0.928-3.
1 Semih Sayginer 140-15-3.266-10
2 Dani Sánchez 96-15-2.533-15
3 Jae-Ho Cho 12-15-1.133-4
4 Sameh Sidhom -8-15-0.800-3.
The ranking in the final:
1 Dani Sánchez 76-15-1.933-5
2 Semih Sayginer 72-15-1.866-8
3 Sung-Won Choi 52-15-1.533-10
4 Marco Zanetti 40-15-1.333-5.
Most caroms in one match: Semih Sayginer with 140, followed by Jung-Han Heo with 130 and Torbjörn Blomdahl with 125.
Best run: Dani Sánchez with 15.
The four final players: Marco Zanetti, Dani Sánchez, Semih Sayginer and Sung-Won Choi
Dani Sánchez, the winner, shakes hands with Semih Sayginer and the other final players
Semih Sayginer missed out the point for a draw in the final
Sung-Won Choi, among the best four in his own country
Marco Zanetti, strong performance and in top four at the Masters