3-Cushion
Who will be able to stop Marco Zanetti on his way to the final rounds in the Agipi Masters? Can Javier Palazón be a threat, maybe for Martin Horn, the double winner of the first day, but maybe also for Zanetti? The B-group in the Agipi Masters seemed to be a quickie for Horn and Zanetti, but the young Spaniard Palazón has disturbed the order. He defeated Martin Horn this afternoon with a cool score (50-37 in 23 innings) and a fantastic run of nineteen.
It seemed as if there was something special in the air on the second day of the tournament. Marco Zanetti felt himself again in a great shae in his match with Tayfun Tasdemir, who remained for a long time under ten points in a phase that the Italian stylist almost could smell the finish.
Zanetti started already with ten in the second inning, made twelve points between the sixth and eighth inning and fifteen between the 13th and 15th inning.
The breakaway Zanetti close to the finish. He made his final point with 50-14 on the score board. Tasdemir could go for one time more to the table, started to score, reached the ten points and unfortunately missed on fourtheen, because he exceeded the time clock.
What happened on the other table, made the afternoon session even better. Martin Horn started as a strong favourite against Javier Palazón after his first day, but the Spaniard fought for his last chances and offered fierce resistance. In a stage that he looked at a large gap (27 to 19 behind in eighteen), Palazón suddenly found a perfect rhythm during a powerful run.
He grabbed the bonus of ten, also of fifteen, seemed on his way to twenty, but then missed an easy shot at nineteen. ,,I underestimated the position'', he confessed later. ,,I think because everything went so easy at that moment.''
Marco Zanetti is the unbeaten leader after two matches in the group with an average of 2.777 (!) Martin Horn and Javier Palazón, each with two wins in three matches, are facing the final rush for two places. Michael Nilsson and Tayfun Tasdemir may consider themselves as eliminated.
Marco Zanetti tonight wil play against Michael Nilsson at 22:00, Javier Palazón against Tayfun Tasdemir.