3-Cushion
LIER - The approving nod from Mister 100 himself was more than a sign of pride and accomplishment. When Peter Ceulemans, with runs of fourteen at the start and nine at the end, finished with a win over Torbjörn Blomdahl, the master himself, Raymond, who is Peter's grandfather, had already finished his own match. He saw the game on center court from the front row. The home team made played a draw against BC Deurne, the reigning champion, because before Peter's win (50-42 in 22), also Raymond triumphed in the match with Jean van Erp, only one carom ahead: 42-41 in 41 innings.
BC Deurne thus lost a precious point again and is two match points down now in the title race with De Goeie Queue. The leader himself defeated Op de Meir 5-3 thanks to Frédéric Caudron and Jean Paul de Bruijn and the draw that Jerry Hermans made against Ivan Stitschinsky.
For Peter Ceulemans it was not the first time he beat Blomdahl. ,,It's happened maybe six, seven times before, but it is always special, because I looked up to him from my childhood.'' And about the match he explained: ,,TB was 15-7 ahead when I made fourteen in the eighth for 21-15. Then he again took the lead, 35-25 in 13, but I made 25 points in the last nine innings with a final run of nine.''
Raymond Ceulemans showed his fighting spirit in the second part of the match against Jean van Erp. The Dutchman was leading 18-4 in 11 innings, but broke down after that start. When he had missed his 42nd, Raymond finished with two. Peter: ,,We are in a solid position now, in the middle of the ranking and we can even finish third. But we still have to make a tough circuit: Op de Meir, De Goeie Queue and Quality Zele.''
Jef Philipoom and Davy Havere won for Deurne in 38 and 32 innings against Kurt and Bart Ceulemans.
In the leader's match, De Goeie Queue against Op de Meir, Frédéric Caudron was far ahead at the finish line to beat Eddy Leppens 50-21 in 20 and Jean Paul de Bruijn was a way too strong for Barry van Beers (50-28 in 27). Caudron started with a run of ten and led 22-3 after seven innings. Leppens came back with a six, but immediately Fred responded with twelve. Jean Paul de Bruijn looked at a backlog 10-5 and from then dominated the match. The Zeeuw scored 28 times in the next 11 innings, partly through a perfect 9, and needed only five innings for his last fifteen. Jerry Hermans had the win for grabs, but Stitschinsky equalized with six.
Op de Meir remains third in the ranking, despite the loss, followed by Quality, which recorded a comfortable 8-0 in the home match against De Ploeg. Eddy Merckx (1.851) and Jeffrey Jorissen (1.909) were the best winners for their team. Zanzibar and De Witte Molen played a draw. Glenn Hoffman, who played against Roland Forthomme: ,,I had a smooth start with 27-15 in eight, Roland still came back with a run of ten, but I could finish it of 50-43 in 30.'' Dave Christiani and Francis Forton matched until the end, the Dutchman was the best in the final part: 50-43 in 32.
BC Herentals held a narrow margin against Biljart Express thanks to Geert Meylemans' draw against Guy van Litsenborg. The winning points came from Martin Horn (50-43 against Frans van Kuyk in 41) and Christian Rudolph (50-42 against Gerwin Valentijn in 33). Martin Spoormans kept control over Leon Smolders 42-31 in 33.
Biljartvrienden played a draw against Kortrijk and remains down on the ranking, one point ahead of De Ploeg. Kortrijk is four points ahead. De Witte Molen is out of danger with 15 points.
Glenn Hofman, leading player in De Witte Molen team, defeated Roland Forthomme