3-Cushion
GUATEMALA - He is the rising star at the Junior World championships in Guatemala. Alejandro Piza Moreno, a 20-year-old player from Medellin in Colombia, the country of Julian and Robinson Morales, who was unknown in the international circuit before this tournament, has not only seeded for the semi finals, he even played the best average of all four in the quarterfinals: 1,363.
He surpassed Haeng Jik Kim, the reigning champion, who had a very bad day with 0.766, Jun Tae Kim, the Korean who beat his compatriot Gun Whi Cho 3-0 and the Spaniard David Zapata, who finished close to the average of Piza (1.244 ) and signed for the highest dayrun (12).
The World championship in Guatemala closes with two Koreans, one Colombian and one Spaniard today. Four players were sent home in the quarterfinals yesterday: Manuel Lindao from Ecuador after a battle, which was finally won by Haeng Jik Kim.
Yusuke Mori had to admit the class of Alejandro Piza, Gun Whi Cho lost the match against his Korean fellow Jun Tae Kim and Andy de Bondt could only shine for a while in the first set of his duel with David Zapata, thereafter the Spaniard beat his opponent to the bunch, 3-1.
The matches for the semi-finals are:
Haeng Jik Kim-Alejandro Piza Moreno
David Zapata-Jun Tae Kim