‘2-3→4-3 flip’ Spain’s Martinez wins 4th PBA title! ‘Unknown Rebellion’ overtakes HIMORI chase

Spanish three-cushion powerhouse David Martinez (Crown Hae Taeyeon) has won his fourth career professional billiards PBA Tour title by defeating Japan’s “Unknown Rebel” Yusuke Mori.

Martinez defeated Mori 4-3 (8-15 15-3 15-8 9-15 9-15 15-12 11-0) in the final of the Eswai Championship, the fourth tour event of the 2023-2024 season, at the Kintex PBA Stadium in Goyang City, Gyeonggi-do, on Nov. 11. With his fourth career PBA Tour title, he moved into sole possession of second place on the career wins list, ahead of Cho Jae-ho (three). In first place is Frederick Koudron (BEL) with seven titles.

Martinez, who defeated Oh Tae-joon 4-3 in the semifinals, is back in the final six months after last season’s World Championships. Sixth career final. He was runner-up at the World Championships, losing a close full-set match to Jae Ho Cho, but roared back to win the title here.

In his three previous tours this season, his best finish was quarterfinals (1st Tour). In the second and third tours, he finished in the round of 32 and 16, respectively. He came back to win the title in the fourth tour, cementing his status as a PBA Tour powerhouse.

On the other hand, Mori, who defeated Park Ki-ho 4-3 in the finals, had to settle for the runner-up spot after trying to win his first career PBA Tour title. Mori joined the PBA Tour as a priority registration player for the 2021-2022 season, and his best result so far was a round of 32. This season, he fell in the round of 128 in both the first and second tours, and only made the round of 64 in the third tour. He turned things around with a 180-degree turnaround in Tour 4, and although he didn’t win, it was a stepping stone to a career-best runner-up finish.

In the final, it was Mori who set the tone. After falling behind in the first set, he scored six points in the first inning, including two consecutive bank shots, to take a 0-1 lead. He followed that up with another bank shot in the third to make it 6-4 and then added seven more points to extend the lead to 13-4. Martinez rallied with four points in the fourth, but he had the last laugh as he closed out the final two points. She showed off her high-sensitivity shots with an average of 3.750.

But Martinez, a three-time career champion, was seasoned. She regained her composure and leveled the match with a precision shot in the second set. Mori, on the other hand, did the exact opposite of what he did in the first set, faltering and failing to capitalize. With Martinez leading 8-1 after four games, Mori could only add two points in the fifth. Martinez scored another four points to take a commanding 12-3 lead in the fifth, but Mori was unable to capitalize in the sixth, as he pulled off an exquisite reversal to take the final three points.

Martinez was able to “zero in” and take the third set. Mori slowly regained the momentum with two points in game one and five in game three, but Martinez responded with one, four, and four in games two through four to take a 9-8 lead. Martinez extended the lead to 13-8 with a single in the fifth, two in the sixth, and one in the seventh as Mori continued to stay on base. A one-bank walk and two-run single in the eighth inning ended the set.

Nevertheless, Mori would not go down easily. He came back strong in the fourth set. Down 0-7 in the second, Mori steadily racked up points in games three through six: two, two, three, three. Martinez’s shots were uncharacteristically shaky. Eventually, with a 10-9 lead in the eighth, Mori put together a string of neat deflections to score five straight points and win 15-9 to level the set 2-2.

In the deciding fifth set, Mori continued to build momentum, starting with a one-bank walk in the first inning and scoring nine unanswered points. Leading 12-9 in the fifth, she scored two more points to create set point and then finished with a sharp side flick to take the set 3-2.

Mori looked to be on the verge of victory in the sixth set as lucky shots landed and Martinez’s shots faltered. She led 11-6 after six games, but faltered again in the decider, scoring just one more point in games seven through 10. Martinez didn’t miss a beat. After scoring three in the eighth and one in the ninth, he scored five in a row in the 10th to take a 15-12 victory 바카라.

It came down to the final set, where Martinez, who had won the title before, managed to pull off a nerve-wracking upset. Leading 4-0 after three games, he scored seven straight points in the fourth, including a side flip and a bank shot, to end the match.