Carom
OOSTERHOUT – The victory felt like a milestone: Dick Jaspers won his 50th Grand Prix in Oosterhout today in a final against Raimond Burgman. The Dutchman defeated his great rival 40-37 in 28 innings. ,,I knew this would be my 50th if I won and I 'm very happy with it,'' Jaspers said after the final.
Dick Jaspers is from the current group of players the man who performed in the most Grand Prix tournaments, but he certainly won the most. Raimond Burgman, the other finalist, triumphed in eight tournaments. That shows the great supremacy of Jaspers.
,,The KNBB (Dutch billiard federation) started in 1985 with the Grand Prix tournaments,'' said Jaspers. ,,I won my first tournament in Rotterdam two years later.’’ Fifteen times (,,or maybe fourteen, I’m do not remember exactly'') Jaspers played in the final against Raimond Burgman.
,,I won the most of them, Raimond won only two finals.’’ His best tournament Jaspers played in 2005 in Veldhoven, where he finished with a final average of 2.666.
The level in the Oosterhout Grand Prix was somewhat lower: from the players on the podium Jaspers took 1.686, Burgman 1.573, Jean Paul de Bruijn 1.364 and Jean van Erp 1.193. Jaspers played his best game in the semifinals, where he faced Dutch champion Jean Paul de Bruijn. ,,I led 18-0 after four innings and played a perfect match. At the end I finished with a run of nine.’’ The game was closed at 40-17 for Jaspers in 14 innings.
The final game was more difficult, both for Jaspers and Burgman. ,,It was a tough final actually, in which it was very difficult for both of us to adapt to the table. Therefore, the party was not very high leveled. Raimond led in the first innings, then I ran out with seven and four.''
Yet Jaspers got some troubles in the closing innings. ,,Raimond made a run of eight and passed me in the score. So he led 36-32, but when he missed a ’masse’ a few innings later for his 37th point, he left an easy shot for me. I made up for it with five.''
Burgman still got a chance in the equalizer. Jaspers: ,,I was making up for the penalty shoots, but Raimond, who had asked to clean the balls, missed the breakshot, which was too short.’’
With the win in Oosterhout, Jaspers strengthens his position on top in the ranking after three tournaments.