LA CORUNA - He could hardly believe his eyes, 25-year David Martinez, when he made his last point and crowned himself the new Spanish champion in three cushion. The brilliant last sprint in the final match against Dani Sánchez was rewarded with the title. David Martinez was 32-21 down in 19 innings, first passed his opponent with a run of 14 (35-32) and then performed a small miracle: the final run of five in his next inning decided the match: 40-33 in 20 innings.
,,When I made my last point, all the emotions went out and I broke into tears. I really can't remember what happened. I couldn't think and couldn't talk when people were hugging me. I even didn't feel my body. I don't know for how long, but it took a long time to be relaxed again'', said the champion one hour after the final match. David Martinez is the successor to Dani Sánchez, who wrote the title to his name in the last five years. The world champion's DS brand is one of the sponsors of the new champion by whom he was dethroned.
David Martinez' greatest success so far was the European junior title in Antalya in 2010. This year was also his breakthrough at the European championship three cushion, where he reached the semi-final, beaten by the later champion Marco Zanetti. ,,I already won three matches against Dani this year, this was my fourth and my best. This victory feels so good, like my first huge success in the European junior championship.''
The new champion, who is the Spanish number three ranked player now, lives in Moncada (Valencia) and is a student in physical education. He lives in his parents house and plays in two clubs: Moncada and Cartagena. The Spanish championship was played about 1000 kilometers from his home town, but Martinez travelled from Lisbon to La Corūna, because he was playing the Portuguese team championship this week, with Benfica and Juan Zapata. Martinez defeated among others Torbjörn Blomdahl.
In the semi-final at the Spanish championship, Martinez escaped against Javier Palazon. ,,I finished at 40-37, Palazón made two from the spots, but missed an easy shot for his last point.'' Dani Sánchez defeated Ruben Legazpi in the semi-final 40-31 in 23.
Dani Sánchez, Javier Palazón, David Martínez and Rubén Legazpi were the last men standing, after the quarters on Saturday night.
In the first knockout round, Javier Palazón played his match in 13 innings (3.077). That was the best of the tournament. David Martínez and David Zapata finished in 19 innings against Raúl Cuenca and Enrique Peñalva with a 12 eun for Zapata. Rubén Legazpi survived a 27-18 backlog against Ricardo García and eventually won 40-36 in 29.
David Zapata lost his chances in the quarterfinals by a loss in a close finish against Rubén Legazpi: 40-39 in 31. Javier Palazón was the better of Armando Moreno 40-25 in 24. David Martínez was not on his best but beat Jesús Jiménez 40-27 41. Dani Sánchez secured a place in the last four with a win over Antonio Montes: 40-31 in 26.
The championship's top eight:
1 David Martinez 1.399-14
2 Dani Sánchez 1.755-10
3 Ruben Legazpi 1.425-7
4 Javier Palazón 1,472-8
5 Juan Zapata 1.400-12
6 Antonio Montes 1.442-11
7 Armando Moreno 1.154-6
8 Jesus Jimenez 1.070-8.
Dani Sánchez leads the Spanish ranking with 676 points ahead of Javier Palazón with 675 and David Martinez with 649.