3-Cushion
NIEUWEGEIN - Dick Jaspers, the defending champion, will try to win his sixteenth Masters title next week. He won his first championship in 1990, when it was a Dutch championship and not a Masters title. Then he defeated the veteran Rini van Bracht 3-1 in sets in the final in Groningen.
Sixteen titles later, Jaspers is one of the most experienced players in the Netherlands. This weekend he played the Agipi Masters in Schiltigheim, where he was outplayed in the semifinals in a breathtaking battle against Marco Zanetti (50-49).
Jaspers knows that there are many competitors for the title in Zevenbergen. ,,Dave Christiani is a dangerous opponent, Barry van Beers, who won the last Grand Prix tournament is in a good form, but also Raimond Burgman, Jean Paul de Bruijn, Jean van Erp and maybe Glenn Hofmann can take the title.
His first title is still Jaspers' most remarkable win. ,,I defeated Rini van Bracht, 3-1 in the final, he was the top player in the Netherlands in those years. But another great moment was my title in Nijverdal a few years ago, where I played a record average with 2.395. That is the highest average I've ever recorded in a tournament.''
The tournament for the Masters, which will be played from March 27 to 31, is organized by the 'Stichting Topbiljart Zundert and is played in the Biljart accommodatie of Amorti in Zevenbergen.
The Sectie three cushion of the KNBB was looking for an organization for some weeks and expresses great confidence in the Stichting, which has gained a lot of experience in organizing tournaments, such as the national cup final and the famous Christmas Tournament.
The Masters tournament will be broadcasted by Kozoom.
The group format is:
Group A: Raimond Burgman, Jeffrey Jorissen, Harrie van de Ven, Ad Koorevaar.
Group B: Dick Jaspers, Glenn Hofmann, Jean van Erp, Wim van Cromvoirt.
Group C: Jean Paul de Bruijn, Martien van der Spoel, Herman Slikker, Ruud Hölscher.
Group D: Barry van Beers, Dave Christiani, Jan Arnouts, Huub Wilkowski.