GURI – Three time world champion Dani Sánchez was without a major title for three years, but he is back at the summit of international three cushion. The 41-year old Spaniard won the Guri World Cup in brilliant style, beating Tayfun Tasdemir in the final: 40-15 in 12 innings. The victory on Korean soil had a historic value: Dani Sánchez equalled the world record tournament average set by Torbjörn Blomdahl.
The Swede recorded a new high record in Peloponnese, Greece, on 22 September 2013, scoring 2.739. Dani Sánchez used the exact same number of innings in Korea: 200 points in 73 innings, 2.739.
The winner of the Guri World Cup played an immaculate final, in which he was never threatened by Tasdemir. Sánchez had a 19-4 lead after six innings and made the gap even bigger when he ran twelve in the 9th inning (33-10).
The semi-finals were of an exceptional level (Sánchez-Jaspers, 40-33 in 9 innings) and filled with drama (Tasdemir-Caudron, 40-40, 7-6 in the shootout). Dani Sánchez, who had won his last World Cup in Matosinhos in 2011, dealt with Jaspers in the first four innings: 30-5, helped by a run of eighteen. The Dutchman mounted a comeback even after that (39-29 in 8), but had to throw the towel one inning later: 40-33.
Caudron and Tasdemir went neck and neck to the finish line: the Belgian ran a four to complete his 40, Tasdemir equalized with his one missing point. The shootout made matters even more tense: Caudron ran a six and gave Tasdemir a mountain to climb, but the Ho Chi Minh city winner was merciless with a run of seven.
Super Dani, as he is called by his Spanish fans, thanked the Korean audience when he was at the top of the podium for their support and for the fabulous atmosphere. ,,I feel at home in this country, and I am happy that I was able to win here.’’
And in an interview with Kozoom: ,,I have never been away, I just went without a victory for a few years’’, he said after his win. ,,It is hard to win World Cups, with great players like Blomdahl, Jaspers, Merckx, Caudron, Zanetti and the Koreans. But this was my tournament, I played well and that makes me happy.’’
The Guri World Cup podium consisted of Dani Sánchez (Spain), Tayfun Tasdemir (Turkey), Dick Jaspers (Netherlands) and Frédéric Caudron (Belgium. The European domination only materialized in the final days, as the Korean favourites dropped out one by one and Quoc Nguyen Nguyen from Vietnam was the last Asian in the top eight. Young Colombian Jose Juan Garcia, former junior world champion, was this event's revelation. He made it as far as the quarterfinals, where he was stopped by Caudron.
The total level of this World Cup was higher than ever: the Ho Chi Minh record of 1.776 was broken a month later and set at 1.787.
Torbjörn Blomdahl remains on top of the world ranking, followed by Eddy Merckx, Dick Jaspers, Tayfun Tasdemir and Dani Sánchez.
The next World Cup is in Istanbul, from 12 to 18 October.
UMB.