11/28/2016
MARSEILLE – Two Spanish players, one French and one Dutchman battled it out for the title at the Euro Grand Prix artistic in Marseille. The 35-year-old French champion Michael Hammen was the well deserved winner. He schone with the best scores on the final days of the tournament and defeated the Spaniard Xavier Fonellosa in a thrilling final match 3-2. The podium was completed by Spaniard Sergio Sanchez and Dutchman René Dericks.
The tournament had a final day with a strong foursome. The Belgian contenders, Walter Bax, Eric Daelman and Erik Vervliet, were eliminated for the overall win in the run-up to the final day. The European number one, Serdar Gümüs, was beaten in an exciting match by Sergio Sanchez (29), who showed up with the maximum score in the final set.
The two Spanish finalists faced each other for a place in the final. Xavier Fonellosa, the veteran, was the better of Sergio Sanchez: 3-1 (73.190/62.406). Michael Hammen was superior again in the match against René Dericks which he beat with a lot of hits in the third attempt. The Frenchman won 3-1 (72.142).
In the quarterfinals Michael Hammen outplayed his compatriot Jean Reverchon 3-0 (74.418 for the winner), Xavier Fonellosa bested Eric Daelman 3-1, Sergio Sanchez was the surprising winner against Serdar Gümüs (3-2) and René Dericks beat the Belgian champion Erik Vervliet.
The final was a thrilling fight until the last, decisive set. Xavier Fonollosa started with a win in the first (45-31), in the second Hammen tied the score (52-36), the Spaniard then won the third by one point (50-49). Michael Hammen crowned himself to the winner when he showed his fighting spirit in the last two sets: 48-29 and 65-52 in the decisive set, taking figure 44 before Fonollosa could win the match.
Back