3-Cushion
LA BAULE - In the two groups for the French team competition, Andernos and La Baule took the leading positions after the most recent meetings. La Baule won the home match against Colmar 5-3 this weekend. Andernos was victorious against Albert 6-2. Most surprising was the victory of Gravelines against Laxou last week (6-2). In the three encounters, Jérémy Bury was the best winner. The French number one defeated Dion Nelin 50-46 in 24 innings.
For the two places in Group A, three teams are in the race for two positions: La Baule (6 out of 4), Cetsi Morangis (4 out of 3) and Colmar 3 out of 4). In Group B, Andernos already reached the semi-finals with 7 points out of 4. Albert (3 out of 4), Gravelines (2 out of 3) and Laxou (2 out of 3) compete for the other place.
Frédéric Caudron and Jérémy Bury had to catch up a 3-1 backlog for La Baule after the break, because Mikael Devogelaere and Jérôme Riotto shared the win thanks to Riotto's lucky shot for the equalizer. Jean Paul de Bruijn was defeated by Andreas Efler, who led 25-23 at the break and with runs of 4 and 6 left the Dutch behind at 50-39 in 34.
Caudron won the fight with Murat Naci Coklu after the break (50-44 in 32), Dion Nelin shone with a run of 13 against Jérémy Bury, but the Frenchman took the win in the final part.
La Baule played 1.443 overall, Colmar even 1.450. In this group, Rouen and Cetsi Morangis meet each other on February 14.
Group B
The Laxou team, which had to replace Torbjörn Blomdahl by Jef Philipoom this year, was defeated by Gravelines, that achieved its first victory after two losses. Martin Horn, who scored his last 20 points in 6 innings, was the only winner for Laxou against Martin Spoormans (50-25 in 29). Ronny Daniels beat his compatriot Jef Philipoom 50-42 in 45, Frédéric Beghin and Frédéric Roelants were the other winners for Gravelines against Eric Kremer-Leclaire (50-21 in 28) and Pierre Soumagne (50-29 in 29).
Gravelines had a team total of 1.335, Laxou played 1.083.
Andernos won its last game against Albert 6-2 in this group. The only winner for Albert was Peter Ceulemans, who defeated Nikos Polychronopoulos 50-36 in 32. Roland Forthomme was match winner by beating Glenn Hoffman 50-46 in 35.
On Saturday 17 February, Laxou plays at home against Gravelines.
The Gravelines team with its Belgians Ronny Daniels and Martin Spoormans surprised with a win over Laxou