3-Cushion
MEDELLIN - The final of the Pan American championship, played in the Colombian city Medellin, has been decided in penalty shootouts. Two Colombian home players competed for the gold medal. Henry Diaz won in the tiebreak from the spots and beat Huberney Catano after the regular match had finished 40-40 (29 innings). The home crowd cheered on for his two sons, top players in Colombia and South America and ready to step into the wide world of three cushion. Henry Diaz took the title from Pedro PiedrabBuena, the three-time champion who was stopped in the semi-final by Huberney Catano.
Henry Diaz himself bested Ramon Rodriguez in the semi-final, the musical phenomenon from Peru, who didn't play that much outside South Africa in recent years, but made a wonderful comeback in Medellin. Diaz (full name Henry Diaz Parada) proved his form and progression last year with two wins in a Colombian Grand Prix tournament and in Bolivia. He was one time on the podium in the Pan American championship in 2012 in Bogotá. His best international result was a tenth place in the World Cup in Hurghada in 2012.
His opponent in the finals, Huberney Catano, won last year's Feria de las Flores in Medellin, a prestigious tournament in the country. In the Pan Americans last year he was second behind Pedro Piedrabuena, who now was defeated in the semifinals.
The champion also starred in the leading up to the final against Ramon Rodriguez with a magnificent final rush: on a score of 33-32, Diaz closed the match with a run of seven: 40-32 (1.739/1.391).
Huberney Catano and Pedro Piedrabuena balanced for quite a long time (15-15, 18-18), from then Catano was the better finisher. The Colombian finished with ‘a harmonica shot', after Pedro had missed unfortunately (a kiss after a fantastic shot) in his last attempt to close the gap at 39-34.
At the Pan Americans, with a long series of preliminaries, the participants played 131 matches.
Robinson Morales played the best match-average: 30-12 in ten innings (3 average) in his match against Jose Ledesma. Huberney Catano was the best in a match over 40 caroms against the junior world champion Jose Juan Garcia: 40-15 in 14 innings, 2.667 average.