3-Cushion
OOSTERHOUT – Dick Jaspers had just made his last point, checked the scoreboard (40-6 in 14) and smiled: ,,Nice, shortest match.'' And the high run, said Erik van Woerkom, the referee from Oosterhout who has been on duty for two days, whenever Jaspers plays.
,,Fantastic runs every time: yesterday two 10’s, the second one with perfect position play. Now a 17, I love it'', said the man in black.
Dick Jaspers analysed his match quietly: ,,You need the run of the ball in those moments. If a ball is frozen to the rail time and time again, what can you do? Three cushion is all about details. If you miss easy shots, you should not complain. You have the score when the opportuniy is there, and find position. Then you can play nice averages, but only when you have the form and the perfect feel.''
The national champion stood high above his major competitors in this round: Raimond Burgman and Jean Paul de Bruijn did not have sparkling matches.
Wim van Cromvoirt was the best of the rest with an unexpected victory over Martien van der Spoel. 63-year old Wim from Waalwijk enjoyed it to the full, and later told stories from days of yore.
,,My finest memory'', he said, ,,was the Dutch National Championship in the Van der Valk hotel in Gilze-Rijen in 1980. I played the last match against Jan Doggen and had to win to be champion. These were the golden years of billiards. The room was filled to capacity, sold out long in advance. Football players from Walwijk came to watch the final, instead of playing for their own club.''
,,Rini van Bracht'', he went on, ,,like me, from Waalwijk, was one of the contenders. But out of 200 supporters from Waalwijk, 190 were rooting for me and 10 for him.''
,,I finished my match against Doggen and he needed 3 in the equalising inning. First one is just barely out of the kiss, second one, same thing, and he makes the third: a draw. I am now at the mercy of the result of the match between Christ van der Smissen and Rini van Bracht on the other table. And Van Bracht was out of the title race, he would be 5th. So he dumped the match, letting Christ win, to make sure I did not win the title.''
Rini van Bracht has long since gone off centre stage, Wimpie van Cromvoirt has not. And he can still shine, as he showed against Martien van der Spoel. It took 15 innings for the match to come alive, but then the oldtimer broke loose with a 7 in the 15th inning and 8 in the 21st: 40-20 in 26.
Jean van Erp is not firing on all cylinders yet, but he is solid and will be a dangerous outsider, as he showed against Herman Slikker. After a quick start (24-12 in 10) he beat him 40-27 in 28 innings.
Glenn Hofman decided his encounter with Bert van Manen in the closing innings, when from 35-34 it could have gone either way. Bert van Manen had restored the balance in the match with a 6, but he missed a costly short-angle shot “which was not as easy as it looked'', he said later.
The young man from The Hague kept his cool and finished in the 32nd inning: 40-35.
,,I can live with that, because Glenn is a class act'', said van Manen – who had been eliminated earlier on but came back into the tournament as lucky loser and did well to survive two more rounds – about his opponent.
The results:
Adrie Demming-Dick Jaspers 6-40 in 14.
Jean van Erp-Herman Slikker 40-27 in 28
Wim van Cromvoirt-Martien van der Spoel 40-20 in 26
Bert van Manen-Glenn Hofman 35-40 in 32.