Dani Sánchez is out by penalty shots

PELOPENNOSOS - Penalty shots in three cushion are a nice apotheosis for the spectators, gives the winner a magic feeling and the loser a painful retreat. Spanish triple world champion Dani Sánchez had two recent experiences: one with a good, one with a poor outcome.

The victory from the spots over Frédéric Caudron in the Korean World Cup (5-2), ten days ago, brought him into the final against Dong Koong Kang. The loss in the Greek World Cup, this afternoon against Vietnamese Tran Chien Quiet (3-2) meant the elimination in the first round.

The match, which was in balance until 12-12, then was dominated by Sánchez after a ten run (25-15), but turned into an exciting final stage with a 40-40 in 27 innings.

30-year-old Tran, who plays for the first time in Europe and is the number eight in his country, started the penalty shootout with three. Sánchez scored from the break, continued in a makeable position, made his second carom and seemed to score the equalizer, but before his cueball hit the third, he missed due to a kiss.

The number eight of the world is out, the number 38, who played the semi-finals in the Vietnamese championship and therefor was rewarded with a wildcard, shows up in the next round against another Spaniard, Javier Palazón, who outplayed the Greek wildcard player Kostas Papakonstantinou 40-37 in 24 innings.

Jung Han Heo had a lightning start against Eddy Leppens, partly thanks to a run of 14 (22-12). The Belgian fought himself back from 31-16 to 35-22 and 39-33, even ran out to 39-38, but then was defeated by the Korean who finished in the 17th inning.

Torbjörn Blomdahl also had a furious start in his match against Roland Forthomme, with an intermediate of 24-6 in eight innings. The Belgian came a little closer with a run of eight, but Blomdahl ran out from 33-24 to the finish with a seven run.