3-Cushion
SEOUL - The night lasted longer than the final itself. David Martinez celebrated his amazing, fifth victory in the PBA this Monday evening well into the night. What remained most for him after that 'fifth' was the miraculous come-back in the final against Korean Dong Koong Kang. ''I fell behind 2-0, he started very strong and I couldn't grab the few little chances I had,'' was the first reaction after Martinez went through all the celebrations and the many interviews from TV channels and media. Then, after 2-0 down, came that come-back with four set wins in a row. ''I felt great, really excited about how the final had unfolded,'' David continued his comments to Kozoom. ’’Ik had that wonderful feeling to win four sets after that 2-0 down, totally amazing. From that part of the match, I found my way to play the game and take it for me. It's a great value win for me.’’
The Spaniard, who first beat Yusuke Mori in the semifinals (4-2), won those four sets 15-12, 15-12, 15-6 and finally the winning set 15-7. Those last two sets were sensational, with 3,000 on average. And for now, he is already looking forward to the next PBA tour, which will be played outside South Korea for the first time: in Hanoi, Vietnam.
David Martinez (born 17 November 1991 from Moncada) received many comments from his home land after this week's win. "Most comments were about that come-back in the match. That really was amazing. My wife Ana and all the family and friends are big fans and watch all the matches, it gave me a wonderful feeling again.''
The stands in the arena, he told next morning, reacted great and with many fans and teammates on the first rows. David has a close relationship with his sponsor Gorina, where he often comes to practice and stays with friends at the sponsor's club. "The company itself is based in Spain, but has a big shop and club in South Korea. Among others, I thanked Gorina in my speech for the great cue I play my tournaments with.''
The Spanish record holder starts on 15 July in the team league, in which Martinez plays for Crown Hatai with Jae-guen Kim, Tae-jun Oh, Hyung bum Hwang, Duc Anh Chien Nguyen and ladies Jung-suk Lim and Min-joo Baek.
David Martinez is now the most successful Spaniard in the PBA with five wins, two second-place finishes and two third podium finishes. He himself corrected the Frédéric Caudron’s palmares, who still has more victories in the PBA: eight times a PBA tour and once the so-called world championship. Jae Ho Cho won a PBA tour three times and was world champion twice. As for the Spaniards, Juan David Zapata won 1 tour and 1 world championship and was runner-up six times. Javier Palazón was a two-time tour winner.
The spectacular transfers of many strong Spaniards to the PBA has thinned the UMB rankings. Ruben Legazpi is the best in 17th place now, Robinson Morales, who is back in the PBA, was number 19 before his departure, further Spaniards can already be looked for in 126th place (Valentin Andaluz) and 138th (Sergio Jimenez).
Finally in his comment, David Martinez also points the difference between tournaments in the World Cup and the PBA. ’’I do of course expect that players like Dani Sánchez will also achieve better results, but we must see the big difference: the set system requires an adjustment and also the way of playing with the bankshot strokes that count double.'' That difference was also clearly visible in this week's final: David Martinez (1.857 average in the final) scored eight times with a bankshot (good for 16 points), Dong Koong Kang did so 24 times (good for 48 points). Martinez: ,,I normally play many bankshots, but in the final, I was not able and make a lot of that shots.’’
David Martinez showing 5 fingers for his 5 winst in PBA
David after his fantastic 5th wi
David Martinez with the other final player Dong Koong Kang.