3-Cushion
LIER - If it has to happen, then let it be against a friend and teammate. That's what Roland Forthomme must have thought afterwards. The Liege killer, who was undefeated in fourteen league rounds in the Belgian team competition and had beaten all the top players, was defeated himself by Peter Ceulemans this week, his teammate in the Netherlands. The quick start led to a 50-41 in 37 innings for Mr 100's leading player. ,,He couldn't keep on winning, of course'', Ceulemans argued sober, after having built up the victory with a flashy start (30-10 in 14) and then continued in a tactical second part to win the match.
Roland Forthomme's team, KBC Zanzibar, lost a vailable point (4-4), because Bart Ceulemans won against Jimmy Mues in 45 innings. Kenny Miatton took a nice victory over Raymond Ceulemans 42-29 in 32, including a run of twelve.
De Goeie Queue and BC Deurne maintained their position on top of the rankings by maximum wins 8-0 over Biljartvrienden and De Ploeg 1. Jean van Erp's role was impressive again against Mathy Monnissen 50-21 in 18, averaging 2.777. The recently dethroned Dutch champion: ,,It's incredible when I look at my last three matches. ,,Van Erp also shone in two matches in Holland this weekend with 2.500 overall. ,,I will not step on a pink cloud'', he quickly added, ,,because I know what it is to play three cushion. It can turn around in one week. It's just a pity that I could not show what I really can at the World championships in Bordeaux.''
Eddy Merckx was the best man in the team of De Goeie Queue in the match against John Tijssens (Biljartvrienden) with a 50-24 in 19. For once, Merckx was even faster at the finish than Frédéric Caudron at the break. Caudron also won against Burgman: 50-31 in 28. The team performance was excellent, because Jean Paul de Bruijn also performed well against John Claessen 50-18 in 21 .
Jef Philipoom was the leading player for Deurne by the absence of Blomdahl. The Belgian bested Jaak Wijnen 50-42 in 33, in the shadow of his second man Jean van Erp.
De Goeie Queue leads with 28 points now out of fifteen, Deurne follows two points down and Zanzibar is trailing three points.
Biljart Express and Op de Meir played a draw with a win for Frans van Kuyk against Leppens (50-44 in 31) and Guy of Litssenborg against Ivan Stitschinsky (42-39 in 40). Barry van Beers scored for Op de Meir and beat Gerwin Valentijn to the line with one carom (50-49 in 37), Roland Uytdewillegen got the better of Martin Spoormans 42-36 in 41.
The evening in De Witte Molen, that faced the team of BC Herentals, was devoted to the death of the European CEB president Wolfgang Rittmann. With two German players in the arena, Martin Horn and Christian Rudolph, the home team chairman Benny van Goethem brought a tribute and held an impressive minute of silence. ,,We say goodbye to the greatest president that European billiards has known and even perhaps the entire world of billiards.''
De Witte Molen won the match 6-2. Only Glenn Hoffman lost to Martin Horn in a fierce final sprint: 50-49 in 27.
DOS Roeselare has started a strong survival race in the lower regions. Steven van Acker (50 to 27), the exemplary leader, led his team to an 8-0 win over De Ploeg 2. Therefor, the last place was redone to De Ploeg 1, which itself lost to Deurne 8-0.