3-Cushion
HAARLO/ZUNDERT - The central theme of this Sunday's round of the Buffalo League was: who will fill the third and last spot in the play-offs. The front runners SIS Schoonmaak and HCR Prinsen are safe, but they need to try and finish first at the end of regular play. The leader after 22 rounds will play against the winner of the playoff between the nrs. 2 and 3. SIS is in the lead with 33 points, Prinsen remains one point behind after round 20, because both teams won. The double wekend of 5 and 6 May will decide about the final positions.
SIS Schoonmaak did not have a an easy win over DPC, because Raimond Burgman drew with Richard Bitalis (40-40 in 29) and Birol Uymaz won a close match against Glenn Hofman (40-37 in 28). Jean van Erp got the better of Martin Spoormans (40-35 in 26) and Jeffrey Jorissen had no problems with Danny Molier, 40-27 in 37. Final result: 5-3 to The Hague.
HCR Prinsen played a derby in de "Achterhoek" against Bousema, and both teams were level at halftime. Anno de Kleine beat Wesley de Jaeger (40-33 in 29) after a start with 8 and a finish with 6. Markus Galla levelled when he beat Jelle Pijl 40-30 in 32. The top hired guns from Haarlo pulled the trigger in the second session. Dick Jaspers had a superb start against Martin Horn (a run of 14 in the first inning), 25-5 after four innings and a final run of five. Horn made it all look a little more decent with a run of seven in the equalizer: 40-19 in 12. Eddy Leppens made the gap against Stefan Galla early in the match (21-13) and he finished in the 20th inning: 40-29.
Bubbling under, the knifes were being sharpened for a new fight. Team Eekhoorn had a tough away game in Zundert and came home with a point. Barry van Beers was man of the match with a briljant performance (40-11 in 14) against Kenny Miatton. He di dit all without a run over 10, had 10 points after six innings but made the gap with two runs of 9. Apparently, there was nothing wrong with his defense either: Miatton missed 7 times in 14 innings.
Kurt Ceulemans, despite all the preparations for "his" World Cup tournament in Blankenberge, keeps playing well. His clash with nephew Peter Ceulemans was an almost one-sided affair, won by Kurt in 19 innings, 40-22. Thanks to van Beers and Groot (40-30 win over Jerry Hermans in 28) the teams drew 4-4. The Camping team still leads L&B by a single point, but the leather fashion team made up some ground after their maximum win over De Veemarkt: 8-0. Best player was John Tijssens: 40-12 in 20 against René Dericks. Merckx beat Jäschke 40-27 in 27.
Dallinga.com is now level with DPC, two points behind the nr. 3 Eekhoorn. With two rounds still to play, that battle is wide open. The team from Sluiskil beat Hartje/Van Wanrooy 8-0. A1 Biljarts also scored the maximum win, against MCR, but they are no longer in contention for third place.
In the final weekend, De Eekhoorn plays at home against HCR Prinsen and away against DPC. L&B Ledermode starts away against SIS Schoonmaak and ends at home against Bousema Lochem. Dallinga travels to Zundert, then plays at home against A1 Biljarts. DPC goes to Bousema, then plays at home against De Eekhoorn. Bousema is now assured of an extended stay in the Buffalo League.
The table with two rounds left to play:
1 SIS Schoonmaak 33 points
2 HCR Prinsen 32
3 Team Eekhoorn 23
4 L&B Ledermode 22
5 DPC 21
6 Dallinga.com 21
7 A1 Biljarts 20
8 STZ Zundert 20
9 Bousema Lochem 17
10 't Hartje/Van Wanrooy 16
11 De Veemarkt 12
12 MCR 3.