BRANDENBURG - In front of packed spectator stands, 55-year old Marco Zanetti celebrated one of the finest wins in his long career, this Sunday afternoon in Brandenburg. The audience in the Stahlpalast rewarded the new European 3-cushion champion with an ovation of minutes. It was the second European title in this discipline for the Italian, who dominated a strangely one-sided final against Frédéric Caudron (40-14 in 11 innings). ,,I dedicate the title to my family, my friends and the supporters who always believe in me.''
The new European champion was even surprised about the quality level of his play in this tournament, in this late stage in his career. His brilliant play in the final, with an almost unprecedented 29-1 lead after five innings (four runs of seven at that point), brought the crowd to their feet. Caudron had been excellent in the earlier rounds, and he had decisively beaten Dick Jaspers in the semi, two hours earlier, but he had no reply to Zanetti's demonstration of scoring ability. ,,I work hard, I practice to improve'', said the glowing Italian later. ,,This European title is the one I want to share with my fans and friends. I have played my best final ever, it feels fantastic.''
The Italian celebrations following the match were touching. The champion shook so many hands and was hugged from all sides, after he had made his victory lap around the table. A little later it sank in, how special this match against Caudron had again been. ,,If you know anything about billiards, you'll remember the EC in 2013, the historic match in which Caudron equaled the world record for high run (28), but I still won the match. This final is different, because it was never an actual race. I was out of the blocks very fast, scored heavily and my opponent could not keep up.''
The intermediate scores showed that: 15-1 after 3 innings, 29-4 after 5 innings, 39-11 after 10 innings and a final score of 40-14 in 11. It was Zanetti's second highlight of the week, following his formidable match against Murat Naci Coklu where he had a 30-10 lead after 5 innings and a run of 17, the high run of the tournament.
The final day of the 3-cushion event started with two semifinals, one featuring Caudron and Jaspers (40-30 in 19), and one featuring Zanetti against a much younger player, Spanish promise David Martinez (40-29 in 23).Dick Jaspers remains the world's number 1 on the ranking after the European championship two points ahead of Dani Sánchez. Third on the ranking is Frédéric Caudron.
The 20-year-old Spaniard Carlos Anguita from Los Naranjos won the three-cushion championship under 21 years. In the final he defeated Frenchman Adrien Tachoire 30-18 in 23 innings. For the reigning Spanish champion, it was the most wonderful title in his still young career. Two years ago he became third at the European championship.
The final ranking at the championship three cushion:
1 Marco Zanetti
2 Frédéric Caudron
3 Dick Jaspers
4 David Martinez
5 Javier Palazón
6 Eddy Leppens
7 Adnan Yüksel
8 Nikos Polychronopoulos
9 Torbjörn Blomdahl
10 Christian Rudolph
11 Dani Sánchez
12 Eddy Merckx
13 Tonny Carlsen
14 Murat Naci Coklu
15 Jérémy Bury
16 Raimond Burgman.
The ranking in three cushion under 21:
1 Carlos Anguita (Spain) 1,153
2 Adrien Tachoire (France) 1,068
3 Tobias Bouerdick (Germany) 0.825
4 Mario Mercader (Spain) 0.675
5 Arda Güngör (Turkey) 0.875
6 Jean Haby (France) 0.769
7 Joey de Kok (Netherlands) 0.692
8 Tom Löwe (Germany) 0.558.
The European title three cushion for club teams went to BC Oissel from France. The second place was for BC Horna from the Netherlands, third was BC De Coeck from Belgium.
The Belgian Bryan Eelen grabbed the title in the free game under 17 years. In the final, he defeated Dutchman Leon Dudink 200-49 in 5.
The top four:
1 Bryan Eelen (Belgium) 33.33
2 Leon Dudink (The Netherlands) 19.15
3 Enzo Riquart (France) 27.71
4 Yohann Alderbonn (France) 19.75.
Frédéric Caudron, no chance in the final against Zanetti
Marco Zanetti shows his joy to the audience
The European podium with Marco Zanetti as the winner
The junior podium with the winner Carlos Anguita
The French team BC Oissel, winner in the youth clubteams