3-Cushion
HERENTALS - The away match of BC Deurne seemed to turn out into a tough match, but in real it was a kind of a walk-over. The number five of the ranking, BC Herentals, couldn't match with the leaders in the Belgium team competition: 0-8, among others including Torbjörn Blomdahl's victory over Martin Horn (50-44 in 25 innings) and Jean Erp's strong performance against Leon Smolders (42-17 in 21). The Antwerp team therefor maintained the leading position, one point ahead of De Goeie Queue, seven points away from Op de Meir and eight from Quality Zele. Martin Horn is one of the players with the highest averages in this competition so far. Frédéric Caudron recorded 2.277 over 11 games, halfway, Martin Horn 2.049, Eddy Merckx 1.930, Eddy Leppens 1.732, Roland Forthomme 1.732, Torbjörn Blomdahl 1.690 and Jean Paul de Bruijn 1.670. Peter Ceulemans and Glenn Hofman are around 1.600 three matches further. Caudron has the best run with 21.
Martin Horn, the German leader in the Herentals team, ran into a strong Blomdahl start. The Swede, who won the championship in his country last Sunday in a final against Nalle Olsson, dominated until 39-19 in 16 innings. Horn's attack with 9-6-3-2 did the tension grow (40-39 in 19), but in the last part, Blomdahl showed his high class a little more than his opponent: (50-44).
On top, the title race between BC Deurne and De Goeie Queue continues. The gap with the major competitors seems too big for a serious threat. Deurne and De Goeie Queue will battle it out in the last eight matches. There's more tension at the bottom, where Biljartvrienden, Kortrijk, De Witte Molen and De Ploeg will decide which two teams will remain in the top division.
Jean Paul de Bruijn did an excellent job in his match for De Goeie Queue. The Dutchman suffered a severe back pain on the day of his match against Jaak Wijnen (De Ploeg), but decided to play thanks to a treatment by a therapist and strong painkillers. He was important for the team, because the break score (2-2, after a win of Wesley de Jaeger in 28 innings and a loss of Jerry Hermans vs Eddy Willems in 45) seemed 'dangerous' for Caudron's team. The leader himself dealt easily with Therese Klompenhouwer, with a strong middle part (18 in 6) and a final score of 50-21 in 25. Jean Paul de Bruijn, who could barely sit on his chair, was much better at the table, with 9 in 3 innings, a 10-run midway and his last 20 points in eight innings. Which painkillers did he swallow? So Caudron asked. The Zeeuw didn't want to reveal his secret.
In Zanzibar's home, a promising billing was announced: Roland Forthomme against Eddy Leppens. The match was mainly dominated by Leppens and ended 50-38 in 26. Op de Meir also took the match win 6-2 with wins of Roland Uijtdewillegen (42 in 27) and Ivan Stitschinsky with a moderate 42 52. Dave Christiani, very strong for a few now, was the only Zanzibar winner: 50-33 in 25 innings against Barry van Beers. BC Quality, debuting in this line-up, continues to perform very well. The 'Lokers' team bested Kortrijk 6-2 thanks to its leading player Eddy Merckx (50-26 against Ronny Brants in 27) and Jeffrey Jorissen, who overpowered good old Richard Bitalis 42-12 in 23.
De Witte Molen is slightly climbing up from the lower regions with its gain over rival Biljartvrienden 5-3. Glenn Hoffman and Raimond Burgman mainly starred in the final part of their match. The score was 32-29 in 20 when Hofman attacked with 6 and 6 (44-33 in 22). Burgman had one great shot of 14, but was beaten on the line by Hofman with 2 and 4 (50-48 in 26). Biljart Express and Mr. 100 Lier played 4-4. The two veterans, Raymond Ceulemans and Martin Spoormans, played a nek-to-nek, won by Spoormans. Frans van Kuyk and Peter Ceulemans enjoyed the audience with some runs (Van Kuyk, 14, Ceulemans 8, 6 and 6), in the final phase the Dutchman was by far the better player with 9, 5 and 2, 50-31 in 18. Kurt Ceulemans outplayed Gerwin Valentijn 50-45 in 42.
Jean Paul de Bruijn, the best match for his team despite his back pains