Carom
BLANKENBERGE - The Multi's in Blankenberge are getting ready for the day on which Frédéric Caudron and Roland Forthomme are announced in three cushion. Eddy Leppens seems on his way to his first balk-line title and is still in the race on all fronts at the Belgian championship. Frédéric Caudron made a false start on the fourth day in one cushion with two modest matches. The averages in the Multi's are pretty disappointing so far. Eddy Leppens: ,,It looks like we are all out of form, but of course that's not what it seems. The tables and the balls can be blamed. Two of four tables are so super fast, what makes it very difficult to play. And then, the balls are also polished with a new product that makes it even more difficult. It is the same for everyone, but the averages are very low indeed.''
The new product, which has been spoken of for days, comes from South Korea. The balls are polished in a Korean-made machine. Eddy Leppens, who makes between 500 and 1000 points every day, knows what he is talking about. ,,I own such a machine at home and it works great. The difference is that here are new cloths and that the billiards are already very fast. By brushing the balls very too often in the machine, it's even more difficult. With the speed of the tables and these balls, this is the explanation for the low averages. Caudron's match against Spoormans in one cushion was the best example. Caudron had to search the balls all over the billiard, but 150 in 26 innings is not normal for Caudron.''
When we see averages between 1.500 and 2.000 at this level in three-cushion, we rarely see it at the Belgian championship. Eddy Merckx and Frédéric Mottet are the two best with 1.690 and 1.656, but Eddy Leppens won his group with 1.395 ahead of Peter Ceulemans with 1.230 yesterday and Francis Forton was group winner with 1.180. The scores of other players for the final rounds: Davy van Havere 1.363, Jef Philipoom 1.348, Ronny Brants 1.183, Kenny Miatton 1.164, Steven van Acker 1.147, Kurt Ceulemans 1.135.
The balk-line games and one cushion are even more sensitive and also suffer from the circumstances. Eddy Leppens and Patrick Niessen still score reasonably in the 47/2 with 52.94 and 85.71 and Leppens is also quite high in the 47/1 with 57.14, but other averages are extremely poor.
Just a few scores from the top players:
Frédéric Caudron in one cushion: 7.89
Martin Spoormans in one cushion: 4.30
Eddy Leppens in 71/2: 20.83
Patrick Niessen in 71/2: 20.00
Maarten Janssen in 71/2: 18.58
Maarten Janssen in 47/2: 32.29
Philippe Deraes in 47/1: 20.30
Maarten Janssen in 47/1: 14.28
Patrick Niessen in 47/1: 12.95.
Eddy Leppens hopes to win his first title today (Thursday). ,,I play against Maarten Janssen in the 47/1 and if I win, I am almost certain of the title.'' In the other balk-line games it's mainly a battle between Leppens and Niessen. Leppens: ,,We play three times against each other on Saturday, then the decisions will fall.''
Tonight, at 9 pm Leppens and Caudron meet each other in one cushion. The winner will almost certainly become champion in this discipline.
In the three cushion groups today:
Group E: Roland Forthomme, Dirk Weeremans, Ronny Daniels and Marc Celen
Group D: Frédéric Caudron, Bart Ceulemans, Andy de Bondt and Henk Blauwblomme.
The rankings on top in the disciplines:
3-cushion groups from Wednesday:
Group B:
1 Eddy Leppens 6-1.395-12
2 Peter Ceulemans 4-1.230-8
3 Danny Wuyts 2-0.861-6
4 Frank de Groof 0-0.883-5.
Group H:
1 Francis Forton 4-1.180-9
2 Patrick Kesteloot 4-1.106-8
3 Wesley de Jaeger 2-1.228-8
4 Martin Ravestyn 2-0.936-7
Free game:
1 Patrick Niessen 4-80.00-400
2 Maarten Janssen 4-57.89-400
3 Philippe Deraes 2-100.00-205
Balk-line 47/2:
1 Eddy Leppens 5-54.94-205
2 Patrick Niessen 4-85.71-300
3 Maarten Janssen 3-32.29-169
Balk-line 47/1:
1 Eddy Leppens 4-57.14-110
2 Philippe Deraes 2-20.30-82
3 Maarten Janssen 2-14.28-73
Balk-line 71/2:
1 Eddy Leppens 4-20.83-103
2 Patrick Niessen 4-20.00-83
3 Maarten Janssen 0-18.58-78
One cushion:
1 Frédéric Caudron 4-7.89-45
2 Martin Spoormans 2-4.30-23
3 Maarten Janssen 0-6.83-40.
Two big guns in the Multi's in one of Dirk Acx' wonderful shots: Frédéric Caudron and Patrick Niessen
Francis Forton, the other group winner