BATTIPAGLIA - Marco Zanetti has conquered in Battipaglia, near to Naples, his 25th individual title in the Italian three cushion championship. The 54-year-old Italian star player defeated Giorgio Mancini from Trieste in the final 40-16 in 31 innings. The championship in the premier class started with 30 players in the preliminaries and was played in Café Casino di Battipaglia. The two finalists, Zanetti and Mancini, represent their country at the World championships for nation teams in Viersen next year. Zanetti's overall average was 1.642.
The multiple champion, who took his ninth title in a row, said after the match that he played his worst match of the tournament in the final. ,,We had to play the final on a difficult and irregular table.'' The other matches in the knockout phase to 40 caroms were finished in 22, 20 and 17 innings. ,,I played my best match in the semi-final against Salvatore Vispo, 40-13 in 17, 2353 average.''
In the other knockout matches, Zanetti defeated Emanuele Villasante in the eighth finals (40-18 in 22) and Alfio Basile in the quarterfinals 40-9 in 20 innings. Giorgio Mancini reached the final by a win over Fabrizio Cortese in the semi-finals: 40-34 in 42. The players for the quarterfinals, except Zanetti and Mancini, were Alfio Basile, Salvatore Vispo, Liberato Piccano Fabrizio Cortese, Salvatore Papa and Ludovico La Rosa. Alfio Basile recorded the highest run of the tournament with 11.
Marco Zanetti won his first Italian title in Gragnano in december 1977. His first series of championships was interrupted twice for two years by Francesco Monicciolo and Antonio Oddo. As of 2007, Zanetti won nine times in a row, he recorded his best average in Battipaglia, 2013: 2.137.
With his victory, Zanetti remains sixth in the world rankings behind Frédéric Caudron, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Eddy Merckx, Dick Jaspers and Dani Sánchez.
The final ranking (top twelve) in the Italian championship:
1 Marco Zanetti 14-1.642-10
2 Giorgio Mancini 12-0.909-10
3 Fabrizio Cortese 8-0.934-8
4 Salvastore Vispo 8-0.773-5
5 Liberato Ricciano 8-0.794-6
6 Salvatore Papa 6-0.931-8
7 Alfio Basile 6-0.925-11
8 Ludovico La Rosa 6-0.724-5
9 Giuseppe Longo 6-0.841-5
10 Michele Di Tacchio 6-0.663-6
11 Francesco Orlando 5-0.910-6
12 Andrea Bitetti 4-0.926-6.
Marco Zanetti after his final win with other players, referees and fans
Marco Zanetti flaunted with his 9th title in a row in Italy