3-Cushion
OOSTERHOUT - The high point of the sixth day of play in the Buffalo league, this Sunday afternoon in a wonderful billiard room, was the closing run of 25 made by Frans van Kuijk. The audience in De Eekhoorn, 100 strong, rewarded him with a long and well deserved applause. 55-year old van Kuijk ended his match with Hofman as if in trance. From 15-18 after 11 innings, he raced to the finish line without missing. The opponent from The Hague added 4 to his total in the equalizer: 40 - 22 in 12.
Frans van Kuijk does not play World Cups or other international events anymore, but technically he is still amongst the world's best. Team captain Jerry Hermans, said before the match: ,,Frans is the perfect lead player for us. When the matches are over, he always finds time for a beer and a chat with the fans, and he answers questions of all kinds.'' This Sunday afternoon, the seasoned player from Brabant had a lot of explaining to do. For instance, he told people that this was not even his highest run. Eight years ago, he produced a run of 27 in the Belgian league, playing against Ronny Brants. So that was just a point away from the world record.
His run of 25, in front of the home crowd in Oosterhout, was another delight. A lot of position play, technical shots, creative solutions, here and there a little luck avoiding the kiss, but it was all so beautiful. ,,So many great points, I can't even remember them all'', said Glenn Hofman, who could only sit and watch. Jerry Hermans said: ,,The standing ovation at the end must have lasted a full minute. It was great to see Frans enjoy the moment.'' And a footnote: Van Kuijk missed the break in the first inning, and also exceeded the time limit once, in those twelve innings. His own witty comment: ,,Deduct the run of 25, and I did not play all that well.''
The match between De Eekhoorn and SIS Schoonmaak ended in a 4-4 draw. It made HCR Prinsen the sole leader in the Buffalo League with 12 points. The men from Haarlo won at home against A1 Biljarts: 6-2 after a 2-2 at halftime. Eddy Leppens beat Martien van der Spoel 40-36 in 28 innings (20-6 in 3). The only winner for A1 was Henk Blauwblomme who beat Anno de Kleine (40-37 in 36). Blauwblomme had a run of 14. Jelle Pijl did well to win in 24 innings.
De Eekhoorn also paused with 2-2 on the score board. Jeffrey Jorissen continued his excellent form with a 22-inning win over Jerry Hermans (40-22), but Raimond Burgman lost against Kenny Miatton: 40-36 in 32. The glorious van Kuijk match had the SIS team on the back foot, but jean van Erp saved a point when he got past Kurt Ceulemans (40-36 in 32).
Roland Forthomme (40 in 14) and Eddy Merckx (40 in 16) were other high quality winners in this round. It was not enough to save a point for STZ Zundert, in their home game against De Veemarkt (2-6). Forthomme beat Wilkowskit 40-18 in 14. Rik van Beers, replacing Peter Ceulemans, drew with Dieter Grossjung in 48 innings, Raymon Groot and Sam van Etten lost to Ramazan Durdu (40-38 in 32) and René Dericks (40-20 in 34). Eddy Merckx was the best man in L&B Leermode victory over MCR, 8-0. Merckx had no trouble with Frings, 40-16 in 16.
STZ Zundert and A1 Biljarts lost touch with the leaders, HCR Prinsen and SIS Schoonmaak. The middle group is now led by Team Eekhoorn.
It was remarkable that Dallinga.com could only win one of their four matches at home. Eighty year old Raymond Ceulemans, making his debut for the team, saved the honor with his win over Wesley de Jaeger (40-25 in 27) with a decisive late run of 8. Steven van Acker was the lead player in this match against Bousema Lochem, because Caudron and De Bruijn chose to play in the German Bundesliga. Van Acker had his first loss in Holland, against Murat Naci Coklu (40-29 in 22). Frans van Schaik and Marco Janssen went neck and neck for a long time, but van Schaik edged it with a three.
DPC and 't Hartje shared (4-4). Birol Uymaz shone against Peter De Backer with three runs of eight (40-20 in 22). Jérôme Barbeillon started with 11 against Savas Bulut, but the Turk dominated for the remainder of the match: 40-29 in 25. Richard Bitalis won in 25 innings against Frank Martens, Davy van Havere got past Cédric Melnytschenko in 26.
The top of the table in the Netherlands:
1 HCR Prinsen 6-12
2 SIS Schoonmaak 6-11
3 A1 Biljarts 6-7
4 STZ Zundert 6-7
5 Team Eekhoorn 6-6.