Carom
BRANDENBURG - Jean Paul de Bruijn has made clear immediately who is the big favorite for the title in one cushion and who was the surprising outsider. The Dutchman, a world class player in this discipline for many years, faced Torbjörn Blomdahl in the quarterfinals. The match turned out into a demonstration of the sixfold champion.
He defeated the Swede with a 111 run from the break 120-30 in two innings. ,,So, for me it was just a new experience,'' Blomdahl smiled. ,,I've never seen this before, such a marvellous run and I never was trailing 111-0 in a match.''
De Bruijn played from the break an almost perfect run: he quickly gathered the balls, then scored his 111 points in a small area close to the corner.
The strategy: scoring caroms close to the cushion, open the balls, return to the corner, make the rappel and start scoring again near the cushion.
He did it with an incredible precision, which Blomdahl could only watch in admiration. De Bruijn seemed to finish the 120 in one inning, but he missed at nine points from the end by a miscue.
His next game is another top match: Frédéric Caudron, who grabbed the title twice in recent years, defeated Michel Silfhout 120-65 in 9 innings. Caudron and de Bruijn face each other in the semifinals.
The other semifinal is between two French challengers: Bernard Villiers, who had seeded in a tough match, surprised in the quarterfinals with a win against Peter De Backer 200-107 in 12 innings.
The Swiss Xavier Gretillat and Frenchman Alain Remond played a draw (150-150), the penalty shots to 12 had to point the winner.
Gretillat missed from the break, Remond made 12 points and reached the semi finals.
The matches for the semis:
Remond-Villiers
Caudron-De Bruijn.