LAUSANNE - Dani Sánchez said that he had played a bad match. And yet he won against Frédéric Caudron, the leader after the first day in this group. Frédéric Caudron said that he had played a good match. And yet... he lost to Dani Sánchez, his opponent who took over the lead. The group of death, in which also Torbjörn Blomdahl (running a fifteen in the early morning matches against Fernando Couto) and Jérémy Bury have a shot for a place in the semifinals tonight. But the ranking was thrown upside down because of Dani Sánchez' win against the so far untouchable until Caudron: 40-38 in 23/22 innings.
Frédéric Caudron: ,,I played well, but I missed an important carom when I was on 38 to win the match.'' Dani Sánchez: ,,I played more bad shots than good shots, in a very strange match.'' The Spaniard was dominating until he was caught up by Caudron (at 31-31) with a run of 7 (38-31). Two innings later, Sánchez dropped the verdict over his opponent when he finished with six at 38-34.
Dani Sánchez leads the group after two matches ahead of Caudron, who played one match more and has also four match points. Tonight, the decision must fall in the matches Blomdahl-Sánchez, Bury-Couto, Caudron-Blomdahl and Sánchez-Bury.
Dani Sánchez is facing a couple of busy weeks, like many of the other top players: the World championship in Korea, the Spanish championship and the World Cup in Hurghada. He needs to consolidate his position in the world ranking (twelfth) in the realization that he doesn't lose many points because he missed the World Cups in Medellin and Hurghada due to his stomach surgery.
The Catalan seems completely back, despite all the business in his daily life. ,,We have billiard shop in Barcelona (DS, for Dani Sánchez) in which my partner, my wife and I work together. I do the international business, such as the deliveries to Turkey, Japan and South Korea. And we also work for a telephone company, ONO, which has recently become part of Vodafoon.''
,,I have a lot of work, not so much time for practicing, but I only need a few matches in a tournament to be in a good form.''