3-Cushion
ROSMALEN - The final win in the Grand Prix De Hazelaar in Rosmalen went to Jean Paul de Bruijn. The allround player from the South of the Netherlands was crowned winner on Saturday night in the arena in which he showed his fighting spirit. In the final match, De Bruijn defeated the always tough and feared Raimond Burgman 40-31 in 30 innings. Dick Jaspers, not at his best on the long final day, went down in the semi-final against Burgman.
This is not Jean Paul de Bruijn's best year in competitions and tournaments, but on his way to summer, the gifted technician once again succeeded in getting the best out of himself. In the arena where he celebrated so many big successes with his top team, he fought himself through the first round of the main tournament in an exciting battle with Barry van Beers (40-39 in 22), was sovereign then against Martien van der Spoel (40-28 in 26), remained cool-blooded in the final part of the match against Jean van Erp (40-38 in 27) and survived the wear and tear in the final after a long day with four matches for both finalists.
The match against Jean van Erp was one of the best in the entire tournament. The 'Brabant player', supported by his loyal fans, came back into the race after a better start by Jean Paul de Bruijn (20-10, 30-19, 35-25), marked by a run of eight in the 25th inning (37-36). The 'Zeeuw' then put his teeth into the fight and finished on a score of 38-38 with the two winning points, paving his way to the final for himself.
Raimond Burgman did that in his own, characteristic way in the other semi-final against Dick Jaspers. The match was a tactical fight, by far not high-levelled as other matches between Jaspers and Burgman. That was shown on the score board: 14-12 after 12 innings, 22-20 after 22, 32-25 for Jaspers after 25 innings. The tough fither Burgman, who often can grow up above himself in matches against Jaspers, found the resilience to strike in the last part and reached the finish line with 6, 3 and 5: 40-34 in 29.
The long marathon on the final day started with the best sixteen in the knockout. Jean van Erp was the best winner in the opening round in his match against Albert Kooistra (40-12 in 16), Glenn Hofman, winner of the first Grand Prix, went out without any chance against Harrie van de Ven (40-20 in 19) and Therese Klompenhouwer won the shoot-out after 40-40 in 33 vs Dave Christiani.
Dick Jaspers defeated Jeffrey Jorissen (40-26 in 19) in the quarter-finals, Jean van Erp beat Harrie van de Ven (40-27 in 24), Raimond Burgman escaped against Therese Klompenhouwer (40-34 in 41) and Jean Paul de Bruijn defeated Martien van der Spoel (40-28 in 26). The four chastened players (Jaspers, De Bruijn, Burgman and Van Erp) went to the apotheosis, in which the Zeeland lion took the final win.