3-Cushion
BOTTROP - The team of Bottroper Billardakademie was the winner in the German cup final this weekend. The winning foursome played with Christian Rudolhp, Dutchman Jean van Erp, Belgian Ronny Brants and the young talent Tom Löwe. In the final, Bottroper defeated BC Internationale Berlin 5-3. The Berlin team was missing Martin Horn due to his fall with the racing bike. He will be operated on Wednesday. The final weekend was played with four teams.
Christian Rudolph lost in the final to Norbert Roestel 40-39. Jean van Erp and Hakan Celik played a draw, 40-40 in 32 innings. The matches on 3 and 4 were more clearly in favor of the Bottrop team. Ronny Brants bested Korean Kown in 28 innings and 22-year-old Tom Löwe defeated the German champion Cengiz Karaca 40-32 in 39 innings. Tobias Bouerdick also played one match for the cup winner's team.
Jean van Erp, who played 1,555 over the weekend, commented: ''The elimination of Stuttgart, the defending champion with Can Capak, Gökhan Salman, Dustin Jäschke and Lucas Stamm was our best performance. Martin Horn was missing of course in the Internationale team." Jean van Erp starts his fourth year at Bottroper. ''We can be proud of the German talent Tom Löwe, who defeated German champion Cengiz Karaka in the final and won all four his games."
The Belgian player Ronny Brants (60), who threw up the cup during the ceremony, was delighted with the success. ''We really have a great team and for me it is another great moment in my career. We had to fight hard for it, because Stutgart was the big favorite with the Turks Capak and Salman. We beat them in the quarterfinals."
The Bottrop team recorded the maximum win in the semi-final against BCC Witten: 8-0 with a team average 1,429. Ronny Brants was a comfortable winner over Edgar Bettzieche, whom he beat 40-14 in 24 innings.
The victory of Bottroper, which achieved its first cup win, allow them a ticket for the upcoming European Cup in Porto. BC Magdeburg has placed for Germany as champion of the Bundesliga.
Semi-finals:
Bottroper BA-BCC Witten 8-0
Christian Rudolph-Volker Baten 40-28 / 31
Jean van Erp-Ronny Lindemann 34-22/14 (stopped after Bottrop's win)
Tom Löwe - Murat Gökmen 40-38 / 41
Ronny Brants-Edgar Bettzieche 40-14 / 24
BC International-GT Buer 5-3
Norbert Roestel-Markus Galla 40-22/23
Cengiz Karaca-Stefan Hetzel 40-40/45
Hakan Celik-Norbert Ohagen 40-2/41
Sung Jin Kown-Stefan Galla 18-40/28
Final: Bottroper-BC International 5-3
Christian Rudolph-Norbert Roestel 39-40/31
Jean van Erp-Hakan Celik 40-40/32
Ronny Brants-Sung Jin Kown 40-29/28
Tom Löwe-Cengiz Karaca 40-32/39.
The final four teams in the cup final