3-Cushion
ANTALYA - The Spanish armada, famous for its punching force, has also shown its power display in billiards at the European Championship for country teams. The team with Dani Sánchez and Ruben Legazpi turned silver into gold in the final against the Turkish hometeam in Antalya. The match ended in a jump-off after Dani Sánchez had won his match against Semih Sayginer and Murat Naci Coklu had equalized against Ruben Legazpi. The Spanish golden tandem, second to the Belgians last year, won the match to 15 points in Scotch Double: 15-3.
The long man and the little man fell into each other's arms after the last carom by Sánchez. The European title went beyond the Turkish world champion, winner of world gold with Cenet and Coklu last year in Viersen. The podium in Antalya was completed by France and Denmark, the losers of the semi-finals on Sunday morning.
The four finalists achieved high averages throughout the tournament. Dani Sánchez was the best of the four with 2,535 (180 in 71 innings) ahead of Semih Sayginer with 2,035 (171 in 84), Ruben Legazpi with 1,587 (173 in 109) and Murat Naci Coklu 1,453 (173 in 119). The Spanish captain also was the only player with the maximum score of 180 caroms.
Sánchez won the high-level match in the final against Sayginer with two runs of 7 and one of 11, Sayginer scored 6, 9 and 7. The scores in between: 20-17 after 3 innings, 28-17 after 5 innings, 34-28 after eight and 40-36 in 10 at the finish. Murat Naci Coklu tied the score against Legazpi after 32-31 in the 1 8th inning and a winning finish with 5: 40-33 in 20.
In the run-up to the European nation battle, one of the highlights was shown in the fascinating match between Semih Sayginer and Marco Zanetti. The Italian scored a spectacular equalizer with 18 in a brilliant match. The Spanish team with Dani Sánchez and Ruben Legazpi led the ranking on the way to the knock-outs with eight, ahead of the Greeks with Nikos Polychronopoulos, the Turkish home team with Semih Sayginer and Murat Naci Coklu, the second Belgian team, two Danish couples, France and the second Dutch team.
Semi-final Turkey-Denmark
The Turkish tandem strikes at the end of the two matches. Semih Sayginer ends his match against powerless Dion Nelin with 23 points in his last four innings. The final rush starts with a 5 in the 14th and continues with 12, 5 and one to the finish. The strong rush of Turkey's captain keeps Nelin at respectable distance: 40-19 in 17.
The second match, between Murat Naci Coklu and Jacob Sörensen, can still force a jump-off by a Danish win. It seems to in the first part, when Sörensen leads 14-9 in 5 and has chances to control Coklu until until the 19th inning. Then Turkey's second man starts his final attack, the first to a comfortable 33-25, two innings later, Coklu claims the win, 40-32 in 24.
Semi-final: Spain-France
The same scenario in a match with two Spaniards having a smooth start with on both tables runs of 9 and 7. Dani Sánchez (28-16) puts Jérémy Bury on a distance, Ruben Legazpi is on a score of 18-10 playing Gwendal Maréchal. The next attack by Sánchez brings the margin to 15 points (36-21), the final rush to 40-33 in 17.
Ruben Legazpi gets the finish in sight in the 24th, at 39-33, but still needs four innings for his last carom. Gwendal Maréchal, after young man's strong performance for his country, can no longer impress in the final part: 40-35 in 28.
The French team and the Spaniards before the semi-finals
Dani Sánchez, the captain, not really being threatened by Bury
Ruben Legazpi, the final part to the finish in his semi-final match
Gwendal Maréchal, stretching his body before the start
Jérémy Bury in his attempt for the last chances to close the gap with Sánchez