ANDERNOS - The climax was colored by Antonio Montes, the final win was for Marco Zanetti after a thrilling conclusion. The seventh session of the Kozoom Challenge Cup came to an unexpectedly exciting showdown: Zanetti and Montes went into the final, deciding set with both having won 10 sets. The come-back of Antonio Montes, who entered the final day four sets down, was spectacular, taking the three-day event to a real thriller. The victory went to Zanetti, who won the exciting battle 10-4-3.
The Italian is the seventh finalist for the final round of the Kozoom Challenge Cup: the six previous finalists are Ruben Legazpi, Eddy Merckx, Dick Jaspers, Dion Nelin, Peter De Backer and Gwendal Maréchal. The last preliminary round will be played next week in the Kozoom studio with Nikos Polychronopoulos, Roland Forthomme and Michael Nilsson.
Marco Zanetti admitted in the final interview that he apparently is lacking the killer instinct that for example Gwendal Maréchal showed in his duel with Torbjörn Blomdahl in the previous session. The maestro, so purified by his many successes, even apologised to his fans for the bad day: ''I did a lot of stupidities and want to offer you more fun and enjoyment in my upcoming performances.''
The scenario of this penultimate session was striking. Marco Zanetti impressed on the first day and lived up to his reputation with brilliant and solid play that put his main rival Montes at a two-set disadvantage. The Spaniard returned to the match with a promising start on the second day, but in the end Zanetti's two wins in the final sessions, after a nasty incident about the music, saw him go into the final day with a four-set lead over the only serious rival Montes.
It seemed to turn out into a routine on the deciding day, but nothing was less true. Antonio Montes showed his fighting spirit and qualities with a furious start: Montes won the first set in ten innings (10-9-8), the second in two innings (10-2-0) and the third in six (10-7-4), reducing his deficit to one set.
In the fourth set, although Zanetti again ran out to a two-set lead (10 in 3 with a final run of 10), Montes balanced the match with two wins in 4 and 3 innings when there were still two sets to play. The score was 10-10 and to make it even more exciting, Arnim Kahofer won the penultimate set with 10 in 3 (1-8-1). With the finish in sight, the ultimate set was a nerve-racking fight, in which the scores remained remarkably low. Montes scored only 'one-points' and in four innings came up with three paltry points, Kahofer did not compete for the set win after an opening with 3 and Zanetti could finally grab the win in five innings with 2-0-4-3-1.
Antonio Montes could be proud of the splendid come-back, but could not crown it. ''I went into the last day knowing I had to play very well'', was the Spaniards comment. ''It came to a very nice fight in the end, because I could get rid of those four sets. Anyway, I'm really happy with what I was able to show.''
The final ranking:
1 Marco Zanetti 11-180-107-1,682-10
2 Antonio Montes 10-153-107-1,430-9
3 Arnim Kahofer 3-119-104-1,144-8.
The set scores on the final day:
Set 17:
Montes 10, Kahofer 9, Zanetti 8
Set 18:
Montes 10, Kahofer 2, Zanetti 0
Set 19:
Montes 10, Zanetti 7, Kahofer 4
Set 20:
Zanetti 10, Montes 1, Kahofer 0
Set 21:
Montes 10, Zanetti 7, Kahofer 2
Set 22:
Montes 10, Kahofer 4, Zanetti 3
Set 23:
Kahofer 10, Montes 6, Zanetti 5
Set 24:
Zanetti 10, Kahofer 4, Montes 3.
Antonio Montes, best man on the final day with a spectacular come-back
Marco Zanetti: I'm sorry for my fans, it was a bad day