He readily admits that a World championship in Europe, or anywhere, is not his favorite battleground. Pedro Piedrabuena, 42, from San Diego, has never really excelled on the World stage. He is the current Pan American champion though, and in a class of his own in the USA, with six national titles and a victory in the Carom Cafe tournament this year where he beat Blomdahl in a thrilling final.
Just two matches at the WC in Antwerp, and he is back with both feet on the ground. German Christian Rudolph beat him 40-39 in 29 innings in the First match of the flight. Korean Sung-Won Choi finished matters off for Piedrabuena, beating him 40-29 in 25 on day two.
Pedro Piedrabuena cherishes his victories over European top players. ,,When I beat Blomdahl in New York, I already cried before I had made the last point.’’ He realizes however, that it is next to impossible for an American player to do well in the World Cup circuit.
It is no coincidence that Adolofo Suarez from Peru was the last South American winner of the World title (Amsterdam, 1961), averaging 0.997. That was a year before the long reign of Raymond Ceulemans started, he was 7th in Amsterdam that year, averaging 0,887.
,,The big problem for Americans is the distance, we start with a jetlag and chances of surviving a Group of three are slim anyway. It would be better if we played in groups of four, the best two advancing.’’
Piedrabuena, born in Montevideo, Uruguay, stays with Frédéric Caudron in Westmalle during the WC. His last WC was Sluiskil in 2009, his first was Luxemburg 2001. His best result in a World Cup: Barendrecht, where he lost in the final to Blomdahl. His finest hour: the win over Blomdahl in New York. ,,That was so emotional for me, to beat the nr. 1 in the World.’’
Piedrabuena is married, has an eight year old daughter and owns a billiard room in San Diego with 20 tables. ,,I was born in Montevideo and grew up in a family with three brothers and a sister. My father Carlos played billiards in one of the 30 clubs Uruguay has.’’
At sixteen, he moved to Buenos Aires, to live with his sister. ,,I always wanted to travel, and this was my opportunity.’’ Aged 22, he moved to New York, and three years later to San Diego. ,,It is a busy life, having a billiard room.’’ Often he does not practice more than three or four times a week, and plays tournaments here and there. ,,The World Cups are just too far and expensive for us. That also means we lack some of the experience the top players have.’’
,,The American federation does not sponsor us, the players pay their own way. Six hundred members all pay 50 dollars annually. That does not give the USBA the means to send us to World Cups. They only reimburse us for the WC and the Pan American championships.’’
That is not the only reason Blomdahl, Zanetti, Caudron and Jaspers are ahead of him, he admits. ,,They have the talent, the experience, the knowledge. And they had the chance to develop, and took it. I admire them, but when I meet them in a tournament, I just play my own game. I don’t want to be obsessed by the top names in our sport.”