World Juniors ChampionshipLos Narejos (Spain)

Carlos Anguita (20) in a trance after winning world title

09/17/2017

Published by frits bakker

The new junior world champioen, Carlos Anguita from Spain

LOS NAREJOS - A new junior world 3-cushion champion from Spain was crowned on home turf, this Sunday afternoon. twenty year old Carlos Anguita from Valencia, a student of Spain's billiard academy where the finals were played, took over from the Koreans who had ruled the juniors lately. It was Anguita's third title of the season, after his European championship and the Spanish junior title. The champion was in tears, shortly before the award ceremony.

,,I dedicate this world title to my father, my best friend and supporter, who passed away shortly after last year's world championship.'' Emotions overcame Carlos Anguita, when he was hugged by Spanish coach Jose Maria Quetglas, his mother Maria Jesus and his girlfriend Anastacia, following his final point in the match against Korean Beom-Yeol Lee ((35 - 29 in 39 innings). The Spanish student of business management stuck his cue in the air, showed the audience his joy and then sat down, hands shielding his eyes as the tears came.

,,I had never dreamed this would be possible, that I could beat two of Korea's best talents in the final rounds'', he later said. ,,I wanted to win in front of the home crowd, but I did not expect to. I am grateful to my supporters, they were behind me all the way. But also my coaches and trainers, Jose Maria Quetglas and Jose Carrasco, here in the academy where I have lived since I was fifteen.'' The trilogy of three titles proves that Carlos Anguita, even in this era of Korean promise, must be seen as one of the best talents of the generation. The Spaniard practices and lives just like his Asian rivals. Anguita:

,,We as young Spanish players come to the billiard room after classes, and we practice for four or five hours every day. I often stay a few more hours, even.'' All that hard work paid off handsomely this year. Even more than the European title, the world crown won in the home environment was the ultimate reward. The Spanish hero was beaten in the group stage by Beom-Yeol Lee, but showed character and fighting spirit on the final day, when he first beat Myung-Woo Cho, the reigning champion, then Beom-Yeol Lee in the final. The Korean dominance was not as strong as expected. The numbers one and two of last year's championship missed out on the final: Myung-Woo Cho lost in the semi, Jung-Ju Shin played a disappointing championship. He complained about a cold and a runny nose, but later admitted that form and feel had been lacking.

A look a t the last ten years of junior world championships still shows the Korean strength. Haeng-Jik Kim won three times in that period, four times in total. Myung-Woo Cho and Tae-Kwan Kim brought the total to 5, out of 10. Adrien Tachoire and Javier Palazón (twice) won for Europe since 2008. The best level of play was produced by Haeng-Jik Kim, with 1.875 in 2011 in Guatemala and 1.638 in 2012 in San Javier, averages that have not been reached since.

The elimination of Myung-Woo Cho was the sensation of the closing day. The Korean had won his first match in dramatic fashion (25-1 in only six innings), and it had made him a towering favorite for the title. It was remarkable, how his level dropped after that. The two next matches he played were victories in 20 and 22 innings, and it did not get better in the K.O. stage. he did beat German Tobias Bouerdick in 32 innings, but things did not look good. On Sunday afternoon, in the first semifinal, the Korean title holder had a bad spell seldom seen, after he had made a fair start against Carlos Anguita. His lead of 18-3 (11 ) and 27-10 (in 18) was wiped out by the Spaniard who produced runs of 7 and 6 (29-27). In the closing innings, when the Spanish crowd grew very vocal, Anguita showed to be the mentally stronger player of the two. Myung-Woo Cho looked groggy and could not live up to his reputation. Carlos Anguita made the last two points with cheers from the stands (35-33) and shook hands all around. ,,I felt so much pressure early in the match, having to play the world champion in front of my home crowd'', said Anguita after the semifinal. ,,It froze me up, but luckily I could repair the damage in the second part of the match. My runs gave me some confidence, and the crowd helped me to finish the job.''

The other Korean player, Beom-Yeol Lee, did not let his opponent get that close. Gwendal Marechal still produced a surprising score sheet, after a poor start (11-3 to Lee). The Frenchman came back in it with a run of 9 and took a 22-17 lead. Un unforced error at 22-22 proved costly. His coach, Louis Edelin, later said: ,,Gwendal missed a sitter, a round-the-table shot he somehow worked into a kiss, and it totally messed him up, causing a few more errors in the next innings.''

The Korean made good use of it, first with a run of six, then a winning run of four: 35-30 in 31. José Maria Quetglas in his speech praised the Spanish billiard academy. Carlos Anguita is one of their students, and he follows in the footsteps of Javier Palazón, who took the title three times. Farouk Barki, president of the UMB, sees the potential of the Spanish school. He calls on other European countries to follow this example, or to send their talents to Spain for training internships.

There is no organization yet for the next world championship for juniors.

Final results of the Los Narejos WC:

1 Carlos Anguita (Spain) 10-1.029-7

2 Beom-Yeol Lee (Korea) 10-1.070-6

3 Myung-Woo Cho (Korea) 8-1.265-7

3 Gwendal Marechal (Frankrijk) 8-0.992-9

5 Cristian Sanchez (Colombia) 5-0.872-5

6 Arda Güngör (Turkije) 4-0.876-5

7 Mario Mercader (Spanje) 4-0.812-4

8 Tobias Bouerdick (Duitsland) 4-0.759-5

9 Jung-Ju Shin (Korea) 3-0.833-6

10 Shota Funaki (Japan) 2-0.802-5