PAIPORTA - The crown of the Spanish champion was shining more than ever after the eighteenth victory in his home land. Dani Sánchez, the best Spanish billiard player ever, won the title in Paiporta. ,,It is the most beautiful of them all, because I have improved the Spanish record run (23) and played the best average ever: 2.247.
The 41-year-old Sánchez, living in Barcelona and with his practice room near to Barca's Camp Nou, played a fantastic tournament, including also a match win in ten innings and a strong performance in the final against Sergio Jiménez, in which he led from the break and won 40-23 in 21 innings. ,,I had already 37 points in fifteen, but still needed six innings for the final caroms.''
,,My toughest match was against Jose Mari Mas in the eighth finals. He had a great start and led 30-21 after ten innings. I had to give it all to still win the match, eventually with 40-32 in 13 (averages 3.077/2.462).
The eighteenth Spanish title couldn't illustrate the hegemony of the triple world champion any better. ,,I am very happy with it, especially because the level is rising every year in Spain. Which is shown by the averages in the ranking. Many have finished far over one.''
In the knock-out stage, Sánchez bested Carrion (run 23), Mas in the quarterfinals (40-32 in 13), David Zapata in the semi-finals (40-30 in 26) and Sergio Jiménez the final (40-23 in 21). Sergio Jiménez defeated Jose Antonio Carrasco 40-33 in 32, Rubén Legazpi (40-37 in 29), Alfonso Legazpi (40-40, win after shoot-outs) and finally lost to Dani Sánchez. Javier Palazón went out against Alfonso Legazpi (40-38 in 28) after his outstanding victory over Esteve Mata (40-14 in 18).
With his new title, Dani Sanchez leaves for Viersen this week to play the World championship for national teams with Rubén Legazpi. He looks forward to it. ,,I played many times there, but never won. Twice we finished second, five or six times we were third.''
The final ranking in the Spanish championship:
1 Dani Sánchez 2.247-23
2 Sergio Jiménez 1.282-10
3 David Zapata 1.250-10
3 Alfonso Legazpi 1.270-8
5 Jose Maria Mas 1.231-12
6 Javier Palazón 1.934-11
7 Rubén Legazpi 1.648-17
8 Jaime Sánchez 1.361-12
9 David Martinez 1.364-11
10 Xavier Yeste 1.238-7.