3-Cushion
HURGHADA - Along the banks of the Red Sea, the Belgian star player Frédéric Caudron closed the year with a victory in the Hurghada World Cup. Dani Sánchez crowned himself the overall winner of the World Cup cycle 2015. The final stage of the series of six tournaments, in a beautiful setting, turned into a one-man show from Frédéric Caudron, who was superior in the match against Marco Zanetti. The winner showed his immense joy when he was showered by a thundering applause in the arena. The emotion and the relief were understandable: for Caudron, who is one of the greatest players in the world, the year 2015 was not one of his best. His victory in this World Cup, in which he finally demonstrated his world class, silenced the critical followers of three cushion.
,,I think this was one of my best matches ever'', was Caudron's remarkable statement after the match. He dominated the final against Marco Zanetti, who was one of the other stars in this World Cup from the beginning.
The Belgian led to the break 20-6 in eight innings after a run of nine in the fourth and finished it off with three, seven and ten in the last three innings: 40-13 in 11 innings. For the first time in this World Cup series, with six different winners, the Belgian national anthem sounded through the arena in Sunrise Garden Beach resort.
The final day for Marco Zanetti was marked by a special end. The Italian, who is on his best when he plays under pressure, was brilliant in the semi-final against Dani Sánchez with a 40-30 victory in thirteen innings (3.076). He couldn't reach that level in the final, where he had only two caroms in the first five innings and made his high run of the match (a four) in the eleventh inning.
The last World Cup was also the glorious final of the year for Dani Sánchez. The Spaniard was the most regular player in the circuit this season. He won the tournament in Guri this year with a world record average that he shares with Torbjörn Blomdahl (2.739), played the semi-finals in Luxor, Hurghada and Porto and the quarterfinals in Ho Chi Minh City and Istanbul.
In the memorable match against Tayfun Tasdemir, in the quarterfinals of Hurghada, Sánchez already left all his competitors behind him. That match against the Turk was one of the most spectacular of the entire tournament: after 40-40 in the regular match, the Spaniard won the shootout 4-2.
Marco Zanetti impressed in the run-up to the final with magnificent victories over Eddy Leppens, Jin Pyo Hong, Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez. The former European and world champion felt great pressure in Hurghada, where he won last year and had to defend the maximum points (80) in this edition. ,,I was intensely looking forward to this World Cup, because it was so important for my position in the world'', he said on the final day. ,,My first goal was to stay in the top twelve, but I felt that my form and my feeling were growing in the last days before the start.'' With his average after four games (2.388), Zanetti was the best in the tournament.
Lütfi Cenet was the fourth man on the podium after one of his best performances ever, which he started with the best match (ten innings) against Jae Ho Cho, in which he ran sixteen and fifteen. He was the last player remaining of eight Turks in the main tournament.
The podium with Frédéric Caudron, Marco Zanrtti, Dani Sánchez and Lütfi Cenet
The final result in Hurghada:
1 Frédéric Caudron 2.197-10
2 Marco Zanetti 2.217-12
3 Lütfi Cenet 1.866-16
3 Dani Sánchez 1.851-8
5 Kostas Papakonstantinou 2.000-16
6 Torbjörn Blomdahl 1.676-11
7 Tayfun Tasdemir 1.600-8
8 Choong Bok Lee 1.356-12
9 Jung Han Heo 2.225-11
10 Sung Won Choi 2.085-10
11 Murat Naci Coklu 1.904-11
12 Dick Jaspers 1.761-12
13 Javier Palazón 1.756-11
14 Eddy Merckx 1.647-5
15 Jin Pyo Hong 1.489-8
16 Tolgahan Kiraz 1.367-13
17 Adnan Yüksel 1.923-11
18 Jae Ho Cho 1.900-8
19 Eddy Leppens 1.785-7
20 Nguyen Quoc Nguyen 1.764-10
Tournament Average: 1.648.
The new World ranking:
1 Torbjörn Blomdahl 452
2 Dani Sánchez 341
3 Dick Jaspers 307
4 Tayfun Tasdemir 277
5 Eddy Merckx 271
6 Frédéric Caudron 221
7 Marco Zanetti 198
8 Roland Forthomme 173
9 Sameh Sidhom 173
10 Jae Ho Cho 170
11 Quyet Chien Tran 157
12 Jung Han Heo 152
13 Murat Naci Coklu 145
14 Hyung Bum Hwang 144
15 Haeng Jik Kim 135
16 Adnan Yüksel 133
17 Dong Koong Kang 133
18 Riad Nady 131
19 Sung Won Choi 127
20 Eddy Leppens 119.
Dani Sánchez (l) the World Cup winner and Lütfi Cenet who played the best match and made the highest run
Mr Farouk Barki (UMB) closed the World Cup in Hurghada