A career reborn at 51

By Bert van Manen, July 2013 

It’s been a while since anybody has seen him lose even a single match, hasn’t it? Marco Zanetti has had the best season of his long career, and a recent stretch of three months that were unreal, the stuff that dreams are made of. Watching his winning streaks in Lausanne, Schiltigheim and Brandenburg was an experience in itself, and a question came up in my mind. Did 51- year old Marco Zanetti suddenly become a better player, or did he underachieve for many years?  

I admit, it is a bit far-fetched to use the term "underachieve”, when you talk about a double world champion (2002 & 2008) who has also won the Crystal Kelly and Agipi tournaments. There is not a lot he has not done. But as always, you need history to give you the proper perspective. In 3-cushion, a player’s footprints are found in World Cup tournaments, the ones first organized by the BWA, later under supervision of the UMB. These are our Australian, US, Roland Garros, Wimbledon.    

From his debut in 1986 to the present day, Zanetti has been present at virtually every BWA or UMB 3-cushion tournament of significance. He has won 5 (Palma ’90, Berlin ’99, Randers ’02, St. Wendel ’08, Brandenburg ‘13), was runner-up 10 times and a losing semi-finalist on 19 occasions. Not half a dozen of players have a better resume than that, only one or two months has he been out of the top 12 of the World Ranking, in the 28 years that list has been kept. But since we are talking about roughly 150 tournaments here, his 5 + 10 + 19 also means that he has lost many more eighth- and quarterfinals than he has won. Zanetti has paid his dues, over and over again, losing to better players on-the-day, or to better players, period. He has been disappointed often, and knows how much hurt the game of 3-cushion can inflict. Especially that man from the same generation, his colleague and personal friend Torbjörn Blomdahl has stood in his way many times. TB has always had a healthy respect for Zanetti’s ability, yet managed to dominate him on the table for decades. 

Marco Zanetti in 1988


  

Marco Zanetti in 2013
If you look at old World Ranking lists, you’ll find MZ in 9th place in 1989, in 5th place in 1992, in 8th place in 1995, in 5th place in 1998, in 9th place in 2001, in 4th place in 2004, in 9th place in 2007, in 10th place in 2010. That is a quarter of a century of being one of the extremely good ones, yet never being one of the absolute best. It’s a career to admire and to envy. And one that must have hurt. 

Not anymore, it seems. Zanetti is now at the very summit of the game and there are no "angstgegners” left. He can beat TB, has done so numerous times in the past years. He has a much better record than Jaspers since they met in the World final in Lima, and has recorded three memorable wins over Caudron, all fresh in our memory. If you have the upper hand against those three, you are the real deal. Are Lausanne, Agipi and the European title the result of a change in his psychology? Is the "new” MZ a stronger player, mentally?  

I’ll say yes, but I don’t think anything has changed drastically or overnight. The other day, someone introduced to me to the beautiful phrase "aggregation of marginal gains”. Sounds academic, but it just means: "all little bits help”. The steady drip of water that is stronger than the stone, the straw that breaks the camel’s back, you get the idea. Things can add up and fall into place, as I think they have in MZ’s life. In random order: Girlfriend, son, business, 3-cushion. And self-image. There were years when he was frantically searching for direction, success, an identity and a life partner. Business ventures as well as girlfriends came and went. He has now arrived at a place in life where he is happy, stable and secure. That’ll do wonders for your mental strength. His traditional weapons are as effective as they always were: the ability to vary his stroke (helped by his background in balkline and 1-cushion), deep concentration, sophisticated position play, and strength of character. Add his wealth of experience, and you’ve got a potent mix.     

It’s no secret that MZ is a controversial figure. He has many fans, but also rubs some people the wrong way. Maybe they are annoyed by his mannerisms, or they are uncomfortable with his outspokenness. I am on excellent terms with Marco, but to the usual three objections against him: short fuse, theatrical & argumentative, tendency to complain, I’ll say: yes, yes and yes. On a sunny day, he probably would too. And I don’t care, there is a lot more to him than that, and people don’t know. You can’t find a better team player, or coach. MZ will educate players around him without asking for so much as a cup of coffee, and when he watches others play, it’s because he’s genuinely interested, not because he has nothing better to do. He’s one of the few billiard pro’s with enough spine to take a stand when organizers or federations treat players like cattle. If there is just one player in a tournament who tips the kid that vacuums the tables or the girl who watches the coats and cue cases, it’s probably Marco. I like him, quirks and all. Not that everybody should be a Zanetti, but we must absolutely have one or two like him.  

So the "new” older Marco is no longer a 1.5 / 1.6 average, 5th place finisher. He’s 2 average, a contender to win in every tournament he’s in. Yes, Brandenburg was 2.500 general average, but let’s not get carried away. Will this last? Maybe not title after title, but yes it will. The Zanetti winning streak of the past months is no freak occurrence, there is a cause to it. He is, at 51, the best player he has ever been, and he’s not going anywhere for a while. Ceulemans has taught us that you can be over 60 years old and magnificent in this sport. TB / MZ will be amongst the most dangerous players in the world for nine more years before they even turn 60. Who knows, we may see Zanetti long enough for him to take on Ceulemans again. 

JACK Ceulemans, son of Peter, son of Koen, son of Raymond.