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Guimaraes the comeback king of Mons
Vasco Guimaraes overturned a two-goal half time deficit to beat Carlos Flores 3-2 at Mons and consign the Spaniard to his second Major GP final defeat of the season.
Flores had finished second to Massimo Bolognino in Elbeuf last month, but gained his revenge over the world champion in Belgium by eliminating him in the last 8 with a 3-2 scoreline, before breezing past Saverio Bari 4-0 in the semis.
But despite Flores establishing a 2-0 lead at the mid-way point of the final, Guimaraes stormed back in the second half, scoring three times, to seal the prestigious Mons title for a third time in the tournament's history.
Guimaraes had defeated Portuguese compatriot Sérgio Loureiro 5-1 in the last 16 and Eagles Napoli teammate Antonio Mettivieri in a quarter-final shoot-out, before beating surprise semi-finalist Mickaël Casciano.
The difference between the players in the last 4 - Guimaraes winning 3-1, with matters decided in the second half - was a lot closer than when the pair had met in the group stage at Elbeuf last month, as the Belgian conceded 7 goals without reply, ahead of his elimination in the barrage round.
Casciano, a lowly 156 in the world rankings, had shown his intent at Mons from the start, pushing Massimiliano Nastasi close in a 2-1 group defeat, and later had defeated Delphine Dieudonne in the last 16
World number one Eric Verhagen was a surprise casualty in the last 16, losing on shots against Olivier Père, whilst Mattersburg's Wolfgang Leitner eliminated former world champion Nastasi in the last 64 - and ultimately reached the quarter-finals - and Emmanuel Gorgette triumphed over Joseph Mifsud, also in the first knockout round.
But most impressively Marco Lamberti beat Reggiana clubmate Massimo Cremona in the last 32 and top Belgian player Gil Delogne in the last 16, both in overtime, before eventually succumbing to Casciano on shots in the quarter-finals.
ON SATURDAY, Eagles Napoli claimed a ninth Major title from the last 10 events as a team comprising Guimaraes, Mettivieri, Bolognino and Alain Hanotiaux whitewashed Italian rivals CS Reggiana 4-0 in the final. The goal difference was a comfortable 14-4 with Mettivieri collecting the largest individual victory in defeating Massimo Conti 5-1.
Mattersburg got the better of DEVILS Austria, a team containing several of their former players, in the quarter-finals, before losing to Reggiana in the last four.
Bologna Tigers were the other semi-finalists, as Italy again dominated the team event at a FISTF Major.
* In the other categories, Thierry Vivron of France didn't care of the controversy to win the title after many discussions in his games against Enrico Tecchiati, Steve Grégoire and Erich Hinkelmann in the final, writes Vincent Coppponelle.
Justin Leroy defeated Logan Carette in the replay of the Elbeuf U19 final and Françoise Guyot won her second Major title of the season in the ladies' tournament.
The big surprise came from the U15 category with Erwin Delaunoy, 11-years old, beating his clubmate, and top seed, Jonathan Thulier to win his first major trophy in the category. Delaunoy also won the U12 tournament after a close final against France's Arnaud Leteno (4-3).
* Phil Redman gave the best performance of the 8-strong UK contingent. The Merseysider reached the semi-finals of the veterans' section, only to lose to an outstanding strike by Austria's Erich Hinkelmann.
Les Commons - who lost narrowly 1-0 to Dutchman Ton Timmers - and Alan Collins made the last 16 of the section. Bob Varney (0-1 vs Eugene Plytas) and Simon Bryan (0-4 vs Alain Hanotiaux) were both eliminated in the last 64 round of the main event, in which Martin Evans faced an early exit, after being handed a very tough group draw with Gil Delogne and Sébastien Brulez.
Anthony Collins and Louise Lawrenson failed to progress past the group stage of their respective U19 and Female events, and in the team competition, Bob Varney's Murcia reached the quarter-finals, one round further than Phil Redman's Hitdorf side.
Open: Vasco Guimaraes beat Carlos Flores 3-2
Veterans: Thierry Vivron beat Erich Hinkelmann 3-2
U19: Justin Leroy beat Logan Carette 3-1
U15: Erwin Delaunoy beat Jonathan Thulier 4-0
U12: Erwin Delaunoy beat Arnaud Leteno 4-3
Ladies: Françoise Guyot beat Sylvie Guyot 3-1
Teams: Eagles Napoli beat CS Reggiana 4-0
A Hanotiaux bt M Cremona 2-0
A Mettivieri bt M Conti 5-1
V Guimaraes bt M Lamberti 3-1
M Bolognino bt S Bari 4-2
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