Marco Zanetti champion in Italy with 2.119

BATTIPAGLIA - The Italian master Marco Zanetti has won for the 23th time the Italian championship three cushion in the top division. The championship was played in Battipaglia. In the final match Zanetti defeated his main opponent in the final phase: Salvatore Papa. Andrea Bitetti and Emilio Sciacca, two other contenders for the podium, were defeated in the semifinals.

The billiard center in the Casino Caffe in Battipaglia was four days the center of carom billiards: all championships for seniors and juniors organized. In addition, there was a battle for the title in biathlon, a combination of 5-pins and three cushion billiards.

Marco Zanetti, who played with Bolzano a world class match in the tournament for teams in Modica last year (40 in six innings, 6.666 average) entered the battle for the Italian title with his fantastic palmares and was launched as the big favorite.

,,I'm very happy with my performance and proud that I played a general average over 2 (2.119) for the second year in a row'', Zanetti said. On the final day he finished his four matches to fourty points in 13, 18, 15 and 17 innings. ,,Thanks to all friends having been there and congratulations to Salvatore Papa for his second place.''

Zanetti defeated Salvatore Papa in the final 40-15 in 17 innings (2.353/0.882) and bested Andrea Bitetti in the semi-finals 40-8 in 15 (2.666/0.533). In the other semi-final, Papa was a way too strong for Sciacca 40-19 in 24 innings.

The champion lived up to his reputation and remained unbeaten with 14 match points, 2.119 average, 3.077 match average and a run of eleven. He finished far ahead of the competition.

Salvatore Papa was second with 0.811, Emilio Sciacca third with 0.913 and Andrea Bitetti fourth with 0.791. For the first time there were pre-qualifying rounds for the highest category, where 32 players were able to participate in the final rounds.

The competition leaders of the championship were Stefano Malacrita and Bruno Battaglia.

The final ranking:

1 Marco Zanetti 14-2.119-11
2 Salvatore Papa 11-0.811-9
3 Emilio Sciacca 9-0.913-9
4 Andrea Bitetti 7-0.791-9
5 Francesco Orlando 8-0.875-6
6 Michele Notarrigo 6-0.895-6
7 Fabrizio Cortese 6-0.839-7
8 Daniele de Biasi 6-0.676-5
9 Domenico Giacalone 7-0.761-5
10 Salvatore Vispo 6-0.762-6.