JABLONEC NAD NISOU - The 53-old Ivo Gazdos from Havirov (north Moravia) is the new Czech 3-cushion champion. He beat Radek Novak in the final: 40-32 in 27 innings. The tournament was held in the JB Bizuterie in Jablonec nad Nisou with participation of 29 players.
The main stage was for 16 players divided into four groups of four. The start of the final match was really exicting. Gazdos made 10 from the spots, then one and five. Novak missed in the first inning but then made three and ten.
Novak was fighting all the match. He was 11 points behind after nine innings when the score was 27-16. But then Novak made a comeback to 27-26. Well experienced Gazdos then made some small runs and took the lead again: 37-27 in the 21th inning.
The end of the match came with some easy mistakes but Ivo Gazdos finished first in 27th inning. Novak made only two from the spots so final score 40-32 for Gazdos. Ivo Gazdos therefore won the national championships after five years break and he will again show at the international stage. The losers in the semifinal were Stepan Kohout and Radek Hajek. Kohout lost against Novak 40-21 in 37. Hajek was leading whole the game against Gazdos but failed at the end. Gazdos won by two points difference in 44 innings.
The final ranking top ten:
1. Ivo Gazdos 1,173
2. Radek Novak 1,141
3. Stepan Kohout 0,857
3. Radek Hajek 1,066
5. Jan Hudak 1,000
6. Jan Alés 0,907
7. Marek Vasa 0,729
8. Janis Ziogas 0,688
9. Milan Racek 0,780
10. Adam Baca 0,701.
Ivo Gazdos and Radek Novak