OSTRAVA - 44-years old player Radek Novak, player for BC Kladno, took his third Czech national title in 3-cushion. He won the 36th national championship in the final against Ivo Gazdos 40-35 in 27 innings. The tournament was held in Billiard club Ostrava, north Moravia. Sixteen best players from the season's competitions were qualified for this tournament. Defending champion Martin Bohac from Brno was beaten in the quarter finals by young player Adam Kozak.
In the semifinal, Radek Novak finished the match against Zdenek Galicek by a run of 10 in the 30th inning. Final score 40-25. The second semifinal was won by Ivo Gazdos by a margin of 11 points from Adam Kozak in 35 innings.
All-time final statistics between Novak and Gazdos are in favor of Gazdos. He won 9 times of 14 matches. The player from Havirov, city 30 kilometers from Ostrava, is in really good form this season. On the 6th of March, he produced a run of 23 points during the 13th round of the Czech team competition. That was the first run over 20 points played by a Czech player.
Gazdos had a better start in the final. But in the middle of the game, Novak equalized the score and gain a little advantage. Gazdos fought and equalized to 32:32. Novak decided the final by runs of 6 and 2 and finished the game.
Radek Novak finished 1,287 on general average and won the Czech national title exactly after ten years. By this title, he crowned his best season in Czechia. He also won the overall ranking of Grand Prix tournaments, his team BC Kladno won the team competition.
Teams BC Kladno and Sokol Zizkov will be participating at the Coupe d'Europe 3-cushion in Porto this June.
Thanks for all the information and the pictures Libor Bača
Radek Novak (r) with the other final player Ivo Gazdos
The happy winner with the other final players