Dani Sánchez winner with world record score

09/13/2015

Published by frits bakker

Dani Sánchez after his winning carom in the final

GURI - Three time world champion Dani Sánchez was without a major title for three years, but he is now back at the summit of international 3-cushion. The 41-year old Spaniard won the Guri World Cup in brilliant style, beating Tayfun Tasdemir in the final: 40-15 in 12 innings. That victory on Korean soil had added historic value: Dani Sánchez equalled the world record tournament average set by Torbjörn Blomdahl. The Swede recorded a new high in Peloponnese, Greece, on 22 September 2013, scoring at a pace of 2.739. Dani Sánchez used the exact same number of innings in Guri: 200 points in 73 innings, 2.739.

Super Dani, as he is called by his Spanish fans, thanked the Korean audience for their support and for the fabulous atmosphere. ,,I feel at home in this country, and I am happy that I was able to win here.'' And in an interview with Kozoom: ,,I have never been away, I just went without a victory for a few years'', he said after his win. ,,It is hard to win World Cups, with great players like Blomdahl, Jaspers, Merckx, Caudron, Zanetti and the Koreans. But this was my tournament, I played well and that makes me happy.''

The winner of the event played an immaculate final, in which he was never threatened by Tasdemir. Sánchez had a 19-4 lead after six innings and made the gap even bigger when he ran twelve in the 9th inning (33-10). In his last two matches, the semi-final and the final, Sánchez played 3.809 average: 80 caroms in 21 innings. In his match against Jaspers in nine innings the score was: 8-4-0-18-1-4-4-0-1. In the final against Tasdemir: 2-4-4-0-1-2-6-2-12-1-4-2.

The semi-finals were of an exceptional level (Sánchez-Jaspers, 40-33 in 9 innings) and filled with drama (Tasdemir-Caudron, 40-40, 7-6 in the shootout). Dani Sánchez, who had won his last World Cup in Matosinhos in 2011, dealt with Jaspers in the first four innings: 30-5, helped by a run of eighteen. The Dutchman mounted a comeback even after that (39-29 in 8), but had to throw the towel one inning later: 40-33.

,,It is really painful to play this well and not be rewarded'', said Jaspers. ,,I was knocked off my feet by that start from Sánchez, but I am satisfied anyway. We have shown how great this game is, and how well we can play it. It is about time they start paying us accordingly.''

Caudron and Tasdemir went neck and neck to the finish line: the Belgian ran a four to complete his 40, Tasdemir equalized with his one missing point. The shootout made matters even more tense: Caudron ran a six and gave Tasdemir a mountain to climb, but the Ho Chi Minh city winner was merciless with a run of seven.

The Guri World Cup podium consisted of Dani Sánchez (Spain), Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey), Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) and Frédéric Caudron (Belgium. The European domination only materialized in the final days, as the Korean favourites dropped out one by one and Quoc Nguyen Nguyen from Vietnam was the last Asian in the top 8. Young Colombian Jose Juan Garcia, former junior world champion, was this event's revelation. He made it as far as the quarterfinals, where he was stopped by Caudron.

The total level of this World Cup was higher than ever: the Ho Chi Minh record of 1.776 was broken a month later and set at 1.787. Dick Jaspers, who was eliminated by Sánchez in the semi, played at a pace of 2.942 for his four matches, but that can't count as a world record as he did not complete the event.

The final ranking:

1 Dani Sánchez (Spain) 2.739-18
2 Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey) 2.160-17
3 Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) 2.942-14
3 Frédéric Caudron (Belgium) 1.818-10
5 Eddy Merckx (Belgium) 2.019-8
6 Roland Forthomme (Belgium) 1.691-11
7 Quoc Nguyen Nguyen (Vietnam) 1.672-10
8 Jose Juan Garcia (Colombia) 1.541-10
9 Jae Ho Cho (Korea) 2.607-15
10 Sung-Won Choi 2.222-9 (Korea)
11 Anh Vu Duong (Vietnam) 1.862-6
12 Quyet Chien Tran (Vietnam) 1.673-11
13 Dong Koong Kang (Korea) 1.647-12
14 Hyung Kon Kim (Korea) 1.600-9
15 Marco Zanetti (Italy) 1.568-10
16 Torbjörn Blomdahl (Sweden) 1.375-9
17 Young Hoon Lee (Korea) 1.944-5
18 Semih Sayginer (Turkey) 1.888-11
19 Eddy Leppens (Belgium) 1.800-15
20 Pedro Piedrabuena (USA) 1.777-8.