3-Cushion
LEIXOES - The 57-year-old Portuguese Rui Manuel Costa has topped his year in Portugal with the title in three cushion. The individual championship, with eight players in a Round Robin, was taken by Rui Costa with the maximum score. His main competitor, young Joao Ferreira, also remained unbeaten until the final round, but couldn't match with the champion in the decisive match, 50-40 in 39 innings. The organization was in the hands of SC Leixoes.
Rui Costa crowned the championship with victories over Fernando Cunha (50-43 in 42), Mario Chaves (50-19 in 29, best match of the tournament), Fernando Silva (50-38 in 37), Hugo Costa (50-45 in 50) , Francisco Rodrigues (50-42 in 39), Fernando Tomas (50-17 in 33) and finally Joao Ferreira 50-40 in 39. The final winner recorded 1.301 of average, Joao Ferreira, the number two, finished 1.259. The stage was completed by Francisco Rodriguez.
The Portuguese titel was for Rui Costa his fourth in a row. ,,My season is really fantastic now with this victory'', said Rui Costa. ,,I've taken all the titles in my country this season, both individually and with the FC Porto team.''
Besides the Portuguese champion individually, Rui Costa won the Portuguese cup. With FC Porto he became European champion (European cup), the Super Cup, the Portuguese Cup and the Portuguese championship. Rui Costa is after all these wins the number one on the Portuguese ranking.
The final score in the individual championship:
1 Rui Costa 21-1.301
2 Joao Ferreira 19-1.259
3 Francisco Rodrigues 17-1.013
4 Fernando Tomás 13-0.881
5 Fernando Cunha 11-0.933
6 Fernando Silva 11-0.947
7 Marió Chaves 11-0.891
8 Hugo Costa 9-0.838.