‘Spanish 3-cushion legend’ Daniel Sanchez (Eswai), Semi Signer (TURKIYE/HUONS) and Kang Dong-gung (SK Rent-a-Car) suffered a series of upsets in the PBA Tour’s Round of 64.
Sanchez lost to Lee Sang-yong 1-3 in straight sets and Kang Dong-gung lost to Park Ki-ho 0-1 in a 2-2 tiebreaker in the round of 64 of the Eswai PBA Championship at Kintex PBA Stadium in Goyang, Goyang, South Korea on Sunday. “Mr. Magic” Signer was also knocked out in straight sets, falling 1-3 to Park Myung Kyu.
Sanchez took a 15-2 lead in four innings against Lee Sang-yong, including a first set high of 11 points. It was a smooth start to the match. However, he had to put his head down after losing the second set 10-15 (6 innings), the third set 12-15 (8 innings), and the fourth set 12-15 (13 innings).
Sanchez, who opted to play in the PBA this season, seemed to have settled in after being eliminated in the first round of the first two tournaments, reaching the round of 32 in the last tour. However, he failed to make it past the round of 64 again this time around.
‘PBA Champion’ Kang Dong-gung dropped the first two sets 11-15 (16 games), 10-15 (9 games) against former Challenge Tour (Division 3) winner Park Ki-ho. After regaining his focus in the third set with a 15-0 win in just two innings thanks to a high of 11 points in the first inning, Kang Dong-gung took the fourth set 15-8 (4 innings) with a high of 13 points to force a decider. However, Kang Dong-gung’s hopes of advancing to the round of 32 were dashed when Park Ki-ho scored three innings later.
Saigner, who reached the top of the tour on his debut, also battled Park to a 1-1 tie in the second set before dropping the third set 6-15 (6 innings). Saigner dropped the fourth set 15-13 to Park Myung Kyu, who scored 10 unanswered points to take the set 1-3.
In a series of upsets, Cho Jae-ho (NHK Card) won easily against Park Han-ki with a set score of 3-0, and the ‘Spanish powerhouse trio’ of David Zapata (Blue One Resort), David Martinez (Crown Hae-tae), and Javier Palazon (Huon’s) also reached the round of 32 after defeating Adnan Yixel (Turkiye), Kwon Hyuk-min, and Kim Tae-kwan (Crown Hae-tae), respectively.
Elsewhere, Kim Hyun-seok, the ‘Yeo Gyokjeon Brother’, defeated Oh Seong-wook (NHK Card) in straight sets 3-1, while Lee Sang-dae, Kim Lim-kwon (Sang-i Welcome Savings Bank), Kang Min-gu (Blue One Resort), Eddie Repens (Belgium, SK Rent-a-Car) and Nguyen Quoc Nguyen (Vietnam, Hana Card) also reached the round of 32.
The PBA Round of 32 will take place on August 8, starting at 3:30 p.m. with four sessions at 6 p.m., 8:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. The Eswai PBA Championship, which is being held at the PBA Dedicated Stadium at KINTEX in Goyang City, Gyeonggi-do, Korea, is available for purchase online (Interpark Tickets) and at the on-site box office. 스포츠토토