3-Cushion
High in the stands, in the serene silence of the Agipi arena, Javier Palazón was watching very relaxed the deciding match in his group tonight.The confrontation between Marco Zanetti and Martin Horn, of whom one (the Italian) has won two world titles (the German) and the other (the German) who has deployed a slow march to the world top, but now belongs to the very best players.
They both had a smooth start at their first appearance in the Agipi Masters, with two great matches, but on their way to the finals, the
22-year-old Spaniard Palazón blocked the way to an easy qualifying. He already ended up in the first or second place before the last deciding day.
Palazón had defeated Horn, Zanetti was beaten by Nilsson, so tonight the decisive game between Zanetti and Horn had to point the second man for the final rounds. The audience in the Agipi arena applaused at the end of the match for Marco Zanetti, the winner by 50-40 after a wonderful 'massé' for his 49th point. Zanetti made the breakaway after a difficult start, in a match that was very nervous and only broke away in the final phase. Then Zanetti took the win and afther his match he and Javier Palazón were congratulated by the organizer Mr. Claude Fath.
,,I'm looking forward to the finals'', Zanetti said. ,,And I expect a lot of Italians who come to support me.'' For Zanetti is the second time in the final stages. Last year he was beaten by Frédéric Caudron in the semi final.
The collision between Zanetti and Horn wasn't just a usual match. Both players belong to the best of the world in three cushion. Martin Horn is in a very great shape, already for weeks. He's shining in all the competitions where he's playing in, only against Javier Palazón, yesterday, there was a small hitch.
And Marco Zanetti, with 2.426 the player with the best average in three matches? How heavy would be the pressure for him in his home
arena, looking so much forward to the finale rounds, to participate in the stage for the big prizes? ,,For me he's still one of the three best players in the world'', Michael Nilsson said on Saturday night, when he had defeated the Italian in a furious endrush. ,,That technique, the positioning, that fighting spirit, I have a great admiration for him.''
The match was the highlight after three days of billiards, although it was not played at the highest level. Where Michael Nilsson and Tayfun Tasdemir on the other table constantly werd playing around and over 2.000 average, the level fluctuated in the titanic struggle from the beginning around 1.500. Zanetti sometimes had the upper hand, including a run of nine, which he had to break off by a kick of his cueball (a butage). And then again Horn fought himself back in the match again, with a 32-28 lead in twenty innings.
But at least the match rolled into Zanetti's benefit, after he took an advantage on 38-35 en then made a serious gap with a run of seven. Horn came to the equalizer at 50-38, but only could make two points.
Michael Nilsson in the shadow of the top match won his second match of the preliminaries. He beat Tayfun Tasdemir in a high-pitched duel: 50-46 in 25 innings, including a highest run of nine from Tasdemir. De Swede with a fifty-fifty score so keeps good memories tot the billiard room where he's often on his very best.