BRANDENBURG - The top match on the final day at the European championship three cushion is an undisputed classic: Dick Jaspers and Frédéric Caudron, who were each others thrilling rivals so many times in World Cup crackers in the last few years, will battle it out for a place in the final. The other semi-final (12.00) in the most prestigious tournament at the mega event in Brandenburg is between the Italian Marco Zanetti, the third seasoned player in the best four, and David Martinez, the outsider in this famous field of four.
The 25-year-old Spaniard, a very sympathetic young talent, who conquered the junior world title in 2010, is entering the fireworks in the medal race with all European top players. He scored his victories over Roland Forthomme and Tonny Carlsen to be in the best eight and then beat Adnan Yüksel 40-35 in 26 innings. That brings him to the match against Marco Zanetti, who, like Jaspers and Caudron, has already won a European title. The 55-year-old Italian took his European gold in Brandenburg in 2013.
Marco Zanetti is in a blistering form, as he showed on Saturday afternoon in his match against Murat Naci Coklu with a great run of 17. In the evening the Italian confronted the Spaniard Javier Palazón, the player who dethroned Torbjörn Blomdahl as the reigning European champion in the previous round.
Three out of the four quarters were taken by sovereign winners. Dick Jaspers made a quick gap against Nikos Polychronopoulos, the whirlwind who was just a small, innocent breeze against the Dutchman. Jaspers was never threatened, like in his previous two matches when his opponents did not even reach 20 caroms. 'Poly' was far behind at 40-13 in sixteen innings.
The Belgian clash at the other table was more or les a one-way-match as well. Caudron ran away from Leppens after ten innings, to 18-8 and later, after a 12-run, to 31-9. The Leppens jump with eight looked dangerous, but inspired Caudron to a quick finish: 40-23 in 17.
Marco Zanetti was in the same flow against Palazón. The 23-5 lead after six innings looked already decisive for the match. The little hiccup, when he ran out of time, hardly had any effect. Zanetti triumphed smoothly, 40-27 in 16.
The final finish came from David Martinez, a little later than his three rivals for Sunday. Adnan Yüksel, a few hours before the man who outplayed Dani Sánchez, had a poor start (14-6, 24-13), fought back for a while, but couldn't catch up the Spanish young man, who finished 40-35 in 26.
Frédéric Caudron was the best in average in the main draw so far with 2.000 followed by Eddy Merckx 1.947, Dick Jaspers 1.875, Adnan Yüksel 1.796, Marco Zanetti 1.791 (high run 17), Torbjörn Blomdahl 1.790, Javier Palazón 1.757 and Dani Sánchez 1.692.
Dick Jaspers looked forward to the final day and said: ,,I'm in the last four again, that makes me happy and it's good for my ranking. Yes..., of course, I would like to win a final again after three losses in the last World Cups. But it doesn't give me more pressure. I want to play well, then we'll see where it ends.''
The Frenchman Adrien Tachoire, former junior world champion and Spaniard Carlos Anguita play the final in three-cushion under 21. The final match is at 14.30. Tachoire defeated the German Tobias Bouerdick 30-22 in 24 in the semi-finals, Anguita triumphed in the Spanish collision with Mario Mercader: 30-20 in 31.
The Frenchman performed the best so far in average with 1.200 ahead of Anguita 1.090, Bouerdick 0.825 and Mercader 0.675. The numbers five to eight in the final ranking are Turk Arda Güngör, Frenchman Jean Haby, Dutchman Joey de Kok and German Tom Löwe.
The Frenchman Adrien Tachoire plays the final match in three cushion under 21 against Carlos Anguita from Spain
Marco Zanetti showed his brilliant form with a run of 17
Frédéric Caudron, ready for another top match with Dick Jaspers
Dick Jaspers, good to be on stage again and good for my ranking