OLOMOUC – Three-time European champion balkline (47/2 and 71/2) Xavier Gretillat has won the Anag Cup in Olomouc (Czech republic). The tournament started with 12 specialists in three disciplines, and ended with a final between the 40-year old from Switzerland and Spaniard Raul Cuenca.
Gretillat cemented his victory after two of the three disciplines: he started off with an impeccable win in 71/2 (1 inning) and used only two innings to win the 1-cushion (50-18).
The Anag Cup had lost its two biggest names in the quarterfinals: Torbjörn Blomdahl and Eddy Leppens. The Belgian was beaten by a surprisingly strong Cuenca, who outdid himself in 1-cushion and 3-cushion, and scored a better percentage in the 3-3 draw, to advance to the semi.
,,I don’t know how they calculate this, but I am bitterly disappointed’’, said Leppens. ,,I felt in great form and was ready to retain my title here.’’
The last four standing were Xavier Gretillat, Raul Cuenca Monrabal, Austrian Arnim Kahofer and another Spaniard, Esteve Mata.
Cuenca made the decisive gap against Mata in balkline (3 innings) and 1-cushion (9 innings).
Gretillat was superior against Kahofer, with a 5-1 result, helped by 50-2 in 1-cushion.
The likeable man from Switzerland, a member of the Academie Lausannoise de billard, playing with a Layani cue, was the deserving winner.
Final score: (match points, set points, average)
1 Xavier Gretillat 8, 18, 36.224
2 Raul Cuenca 6, 17, 18.442
3 Arnim Kahofer 6, 16, 17.948
3 Esteve Mata 4, 9, 13.220
5 Eddy Leppens 5, 13, 42.215
6 Wolfgang Zenkner 5, 11, 18.733
7 Torbjörn Blomdahl 4, 10, 16.601
8 Marek Faus 1, 5, 19.421
9 Bernard Villiers 1, 5, 18.165
10 Pavel Böhm 0, 4, 12.506
11 Janis Ziogas 0, 4, 8.519
12 Pierre Soumagne 0, 2, 19.687.