Marcos Morales has best finish in CEB-21 event

HALLE ZOERSEL - The final was played under pressure, at least the Spanish winner had the best final sprint. Marcos Morales won his two matches on the final day at the Longoni Next gen Grand Prix in Halle Zoersel by a comfortable margin. The average fell short of expectations, the victory was certainly deserved. In the final, Morales won against Frenchman Tangui Duriez 35-19 in 36 (0.972/0.527). Also on the stage were Joris van ‘t Zelfden and Daniel Sainz-Pardo. The podium finish for Morales followed, among others, Turkish victories at the last two European under-21 championships by Denizcan Akkoca and Seymen Ozbas.

The final at De Ploeg between Morales and Duriez was played under great tension. The two players did not reach over 3 and 4 runs, Morales slowly ran to a lead and his French opponent could not close the gap.

Tangui Duriez had desperately needed his fighting spirit to win the semi-final. In that match, the Frenchman had a lead himself for a long time over Dutchman Joris van ‘t Zelfden, who came back strongly at the end and missed out on three match balls. The Dutchman was offered two not too difficult positions, he missed, and then Duriez saw his chance to score his two winning points in relief. Marco Morales played against compatriot Daniel Sainz Pardo in that semi-final and held a gap of nine at the end: 35-26 in 35/34.

The final ranking at the CEB Grand Prix:

1. Marcos Morales (Spain) 12-1.074-8
2. Tangui Duriez (France) 12-0.832-6
3. Joris van ’t Zelfden (Netherlands) 8-1.107-7
4. Daniel Sainz-Pardo (Spain) 8-0.839-7
5. Amir Ibraimov (Germany) 8-0.968-9
6. Luca Philipoom (Netherlands) 8-0.691-5
7. Toon Bollansee (Belgium) 4-0.824-6
8. Selahattin Özkul (Turkey) 8-0.816-7