Free game
AFFERDEN - The German youth team under twenty is the winner of the Coupe van Beem 2014. The tournament in the discipline free game was played between three countries in Afferden in the Netherlands. The Germans were on top of the stage with their team on the final day. The Belgian team, which was the defending champion, finished second, the Dutch home team finished in third place.
The organization was extremely pleased to look back on a wonderful competition with a huge interest of fans and spectators.
The Germans, led by the brothers Simon and Lucas Blondeel from Bochum and Annika Schramm, grabbed the victory with a minimal marge. The decision was forced among others in the match between Daisy Werdekker (Netherlands) and Lucas Blondeel (Germany), who put up a great fight.
The 19 year old Dutch girl had to make 275 caroms in her match, her German opponent 170. The strongly technical Werdekker had a flawless start and took a big lead, but could not make the winning caroms in the nervous final stage. Blondeel reached the finish line with small runs to 170-257 (15 innings).
The German team had two players with the full eight matchpoints: Simon Blondeel and Annika Schramm. Moreover, Lucas Blondeel took six match points. These scores brought the Germans the final success.
Daan Glissenaar lost his last match for the Netherlands against Bryan Eelen (130-123 in 23), bringing the Belgians on the second spot ahead of the Dutch.
The winning team also led after the first half of the match with three match points and 18 points for winning matches, ahead of the Netherlands with two match points and Belgium one point.
The second part finished with a shared victory for Germany and Belgium, both with three match points. The two teams played a draw against each other, both defeated the Netherlands 9-7.
The final score in match points:
1 Germany 6
2 Belgium 4
3 Netherlands 2.
The Dutchman Jordy Jong had the best overall average: he won three matches and played one draw with a final average 36.66. Jong also shone with the highest run of 261.
Simon Blondeel (16.84), Nino Coeckelberghs (2.80) and Annika Schramm (1.84) gathered the maximum match points in the tournament.
Best averages:
1 Jordy Jong (Netherlands) 36.66
2 Stef van Hees (Belgium) 25.22
3 Simon Blondeel (Germany) 16.84
4 Gérôm Dieu (Belgium) 13.82
5 Lucas Blondeel (Germany) 13.78.