MANIZALES - 44-year-old Colombian Arley Montoya is the winner of the 25th Feria de Manizales, a tournament with over 350 players in the city with about half a million inhabitants in the coffee region of Colombia. Montoya defeated Leonardo Tova in the final to three 15-point sets. Jose Juan Garcia, one of the favourites, and Daniel Moreno were eliminated in the semi-finals.
Arley Montoya, nicknamed 'Chavito' is not a big name in Colombian three-cushion: he reached the semi-finals one time in Manizales, in 2018. This year's Feria de Manizales, which ended this Saturday with the finals, was played for the first time according to a new playing system, from the quarter-finals to three sets of 15 points won.
The two finalists were left from the preliminaries and the main draw with big names such as Huberney Cataño, Mauricio Gutierrez, Luis Suárez, Jose Juan Garcia, Cristian Sánchez, Heriberto Aristizabel and Daniel Morales.
The qualifications were completed on Thursday with remarkably high averages. Last Monday, the qualifications started with 64 groups of four players. A total of 370 players started, of whom 96 went on to the draw for the main tournament.
The results of each phase in the four days of qualifications:
Top 10 of the first round:
1. Felipe Ortegon 1,450
2. Merlin Romero 1.429
3. Sergio Granados 1.429
4. Santiago Carmona 1,364
5. Jorge Puerto 1,333
6. Rolando Bohorquez 1,208
7. Walter Ruiz 1,200
8. Mauricio Grajales 1,154
9. Fredy Prieto 1,154
10. Yon Fredy Martinez 1,111
Sergio Granados, the sponsor of the GH Cup, surprised on the second day with an extraordinary run of 15 in the second set. Mexican Carlos Elias defeated Jose Juan Garcia 2-0.
Top 10 of the second round:
1. Sergio Granados 1,765
2. Henry Diaz 1,611
3. Carlos Elias 1,500
4. Andres Naranjo 1,450
5. Luis Martinez 1,364
6. Daniel Morales 1,350
7. Merlin Morales 1,304
8. Arley Montoya 1,304
9. Harry Montoya 1,250
Top 10 of the third round:
1. Yon F Martinez 1,875
2. Santiago Morales 1,765
3. Heriberto Aristizabal 1,429
4. Alex Cardona 1,200
5. Gustavo Ramirez 1,160
6. Henry Diaz 1,120
7. Merlin Romero 1,083
8. Juan C Vallejo 0.966
9. José Duarte 0.929
10. Guillermo Zuluaga 0.889
Heriberto Aristizabal won the three million Colombian pesos awarded to the best match: 30 in 17 innings.
Top 10 of the fourth round:
1. Heriberto Aristizabal 1.765
2. Andres Naranjo 1,500
3. Luis Martinez 1,364
4. Daniel Moreno 1,304
5. Arley Montoya 1.304
6. Mauricio Grajales 1.250
7. Guillermo Zuluaga 1,200
8. Huberney Cataño 1,120
9. Yon F. Martinez 1,074
10. Daniel Morales 1,074
Arley Castrillon, Andres Hernandez, Jose Juan Garcia and Humberto Castano achieved world class averages in the final round:
Top 10 of the first round (main tournament):
1. Arley Castrillon 2.308
2. Andres Hernandez 2,000
3. José Juan García 1,875
4. Humberto Castaño 1,765
5. Miguel Romero 1,579
6. Julián Torres 1.579
7. Arley Montoya 1,579
8. Daniel Moreno 1.579
9. Mauricio Gutierrez 1.318
10. Heriberto Aristizabal 1,304
The final winner Arley Montoya