3-Cushion
BAEZA - In the southern Spanish city of Baeza, Rubén Legazpi has won the Gran Premio with overwhelming high class. The new Spanish number one on the rankings beat Carlos Crespo in the final 40-22 in 24 innings and put himself in the spotlights with 1,667 on average. Legazpi played his best match in the sixteenth round against Jorge Pascual: 40-25 in 16 innings after 20-19 at the break with a run of 17.
Mallorcan player Carlos Crespo, who played an excellent tournament, was the runner-up after he had beaten Alfonso Legazpi in the semi-finals 40-37 in 34. Rubén Legazpi beat Sergio Jimenez 40-24 in 24 in the other semi-final.
After his magnificent match against Pascual, Legazpi went full blast against Joseba Escribano in the next round (40-30 in 30) and defeated Jaime Sánchez Faraco, the last winner in Baeza, in the quarterfinals 40-23 in 26.
Besides the main prize of 1.200 euros, Rubén Legazpi became the new leader in the Spanish ranking, in which
Jaime Sanchez Faraco is the number two now. A total of 84 players participated in the Baeza Gran Premio. Dani Sánchez was absent: the winner of 64 Gran Premio events in Spain plays only the Spanish championship and no longer the Grand Prix tournaments for five years. The PBA players are not allowed to play the Grand Prix events.
Estela Cardoso won the ladies tournament ahead of Ana Juarez and Luisa Lopez. The winner scored 0,631 on average.
The best eight in the men's event:
1 Rubén Legazpi 1,667-17
2 Carlos Crespo 1,358-13
3 Sergio Jimenez 1,345-9
4 Alfonso Legazpi 1,217-11
5 Antonio Montes 1,465-9
6 Enrique Penalva 1,360-5
7 Jaime Sanchez 1,212-13
8 Valentin Andaluz 0.860-5.
The next Spanish event is the national championships one cushion in Paiporta on 17 and 18 April. The Spanish three-cushion championship is from 31 May to 6 June in Madrid.
The men's winner Rubén Legazpi
Estela Cardoso, the best in the ladies Gran Premio