3-Cushion
MADRID - The headquarter of the Spanish Billiard Federation is the stage where the Spanish three-cushion title is at stake this week. Dani Sánchez, who does not play the Spanish Grand Prix events for a few years, will defend his title in the tournament, which starts today, Monday, with the preliminaries and ends on Saturday and Sunday with the finals. The championship in the main class is played for the 137th time. The total number of participants is 117.
The main competitors to keep Sánchez from another title and precious ranking points are Rubén Legazpi (Madrid), the Andalusian champion Jaime S. Faraco, Ruben Fernandez and Antonio Montes.
The 101-player qualifying rounds will last until Thursday, from which 16 players will remain. The round of 16 and the quarter-finals are played on Saturday, the semi-finals and final are on Sunday.
Dani Sánchez, with a total of 19 titles, is the record champion of Spain and is the big favorite. Rubén Legazpi was on the highest stage twice in 2018 and 2019. Only two other participants also took the Spanish title: Enrique Peñalva (1996) and Ricardo García Alarcón (1994). Other players from this generation who won the Spanish title are David Martínez and Javier Palazón. They play for the Korean PBA organisation and are therefore not allowed to participate.
The event will be a tribute to Rafael Garrido, former runner-up of Spain and former president of the Madrid Billiard Federation who passed away last year. The organization has made a poster on which the tournament is named I Memorial Rafael Garrido.