CARTAGENA – On the stage where Koreans, Turks, and Spaniards excel in three-cushion billiards, a Mexican junior captured the world gold medal in juniors three-cushion this Sunday in Cartagena, Spain. 17-year-old Mexican Ubaldo Sanchez, known in his home country as Ubaldito, defeated 20-year-old Turkish reigning champion Seymen Ozbas in the final at the World Championship. The final was decided in the very last innings, where Sanchez made the winning carom after missing a match point: 40-37 in 37 innings. Ubaldo Sanchez's victory was the first world title in three-cushion billiards for a Mexican in history. Twos Mexican player have become the world’s best in artistic billiards: Roberto Rojas in Faches Thumesnil, France in 2002, and David Gonzalez in Ankara in 2024.
The young Mexican, who started playing billiards at age 10 and had to take days off from school to play the World Championship in Cartagena, crowned himself champion in a spectacular way. He survived the group stage with aplomb, won the semifinals on Sunday with a score 40-39 against Korean Do Hyeon Kim, and also dominated the final in the last stages against Seymen Ozbas, the previous world champion who could barely hide his disappointment. The score after 10 innings was 14-11 for Ozbas. After a run of 7, Sanchez led 21-16 in 15 innings, the score was 31-32 in 30 innings, and Sanchez finally made a 4 and three times 1 for the victory.
Ubaldito Sanchez's race was remarkable, as he also missed three match points in the semifinal against Kim before finishing the match at 39-39. In the quarterfinals against Colombian Jose Martinez, Sanchez was the commanding winner, 40-26 in 37. In the last 16, he defeated Portuguese Luis Pinto 40-29 in 37.
Sanchez nearly didn't survive the group stage in a group with two Koreans. The Mexican started against Do Hyeon Kim, the 15-year-old talent, at 30-30 in 37 after a run of five and two runs of two in the last two innings. That delivered him his first draw. Then, against Gyu Seung Lee, Sanchez was at the mercy of the gods again when the Korean finished in the 28th inning, requiring Sanchez to score three times to qualify. The third carom, the equalizer, was a miraculous shot. It saved his tournament and kicked off the race for the sensational world title. After his golden success in the Spanish city, Ubaldito said: "I'm very happy with this victory. The toughest match was in the group stage; I was practically eliminated, but I scored the last point. And now I'm world champion, even though I'm still a student."
In his own country, Ubaldo Sanchez has already played friendly matches against Zanetti, Jaspers, Merckx, Bao, and Tran. As a junior, he won two silver medals at the Pan American Games, one silver, one bronze at the Mexican Youth Olympiad, and national Masters titles.
The World Junior Championships came down to a final day with two Turks, one Mexican, and one Korean, of whom Seymen Ozbas, who won the world title last year and also holds a European title, was the top favorite. The two Turks faced each other in the semifinals. Ozbas defeated Cerkez 40-18 in 20 matches, including a high run of 12. Sanchez defeated Kim 40-39.
The highest average of the tournament was recorded by Seymen Ozbas with 1.456, and Ozbas also had the highest runs with 12 and 11.
The winner did not receive a cash prize, as bonus payments are prohibited by law for players under 22.
The final standings at the Junior World Championships in Cartagena:
- Ubaldo Sanchez, Mexico, 12-1.067-9
- Seymen Ozbas, Turkey, 10-1.456-12
- Ataberk Cerkez, Turkey, 8-1.039-6
- Do Hyeon Kim, Korea, 7-1.278-9
- Hyeon Woo Kim, Korea, 6-1.370-7
- Toni Garcia, Spain, 6-0.969-6
- Arturo Zotov, Spain, 6-0.913-10
- Jose Martinez, Colombia, 4-0.886-5
- Valentino Oliveto, Argentina, 4-0.917-5
- Luis Pinto, Portugal, 4-0.864-5
- Daniel Sainz Pardo, Spain, 2-1.350-10
- Tangui Duriez, France 2-0.927-8
- Luca Philipoom, Netherlands, 2-0.923-5
- Amir Ibraimov, Germany, 2-0.834-5
The world podium with the winner Ubaldon Sanchez, two Turks and one Korean
Ubaldo Sanchez, a sensational winner for Mexico
Seymen Ozbas played an excellent event, but lost his world title
Bronze winner Ataberk Cerkez
Bronze winner Do Hyeon Kim