3-Cushion
LOCHEM - Murat Naci Coklu provided the fireworks, with this week’s best eredivisie match: 50 pts in 15 innings. But in that same match (Holland Mineraal v. Martens Cleaning), another extraordinary achievement needed attention. Raymond Ceulemans (75) reached another milestone in his rich career. The Belgian maestro won his 300th match in the Dutch eredivisie.
It was not even a hard-fought match, against German Steffan Galla, who was never really in it. The Belgian broke away in the 14th and 15th inning with runs of 5 and 8, to win unchallenged in 34 innings: 50 – 33.
Murat Naci Coklu would be the star of the day, in a match that had no winner: 4–4. The Turk went toe to toe with his seasoned opponent Spoormans for 6 innings, and then took off with 6,9,0,6 (21 pts in 4 innings). He finished the job in style in the 15th inning: 50 – 15, an average of 3.333. It was by far the best match in 8 rounds of eredivisie play, the previous best being Eddy Leppens 17 ining match of last week.
The tense one was the encounter between Anno de Kleine and Jens van Dam. The Zeeuw had the better start: 24-15. De Kleine matched up at 34 – 34 and the race to the finish was always close. De Kleine had the advantage at 48-47, but Van Dam responded with a 3. His opponent could only make 1 point from the spots.
The leader, TOVV.nl/MCR, did not make a mistake in their away game against Van Wanrooij/Transport (7-1). Eddy Merckx was the only one who did not win, against an opponent that has troubled him before. Kurt Ceulemans kept up with the world champion: 50-50 in 34 innings. Frans van Kuyk was the best winner of the day, against Stitschinsky (28 innings).
Dallinga-Frans Bevers looked at 2-2 at halftime against Dekker Keukens, but could sigh with relief eventually. Eddy Leppens made it 2-0, but Jef Philipoom defeated Jean Paul de Bruijn 50-47 in spite of the Zeeuw’s run of 12.
Frédéric Caudron and Glenn Hofman brought home the full win for Dallinga. Glenn Hofman had as good as a walk-over against Hans van der Wurf: 50-20 in 42 innings. Frédéric Caudron was behind for 21 innings in his match against Gerwin Valentijn. In two innings however, he sprinted to victory, just in time making 5 and 9 (50 – 44 in 24).
Post Luchtkanalen had their first win in this eighth round. The team headed by Wesley de Jaeger beat their nearest rivals at the bottom of the table: FDV Jacoby/Schueler Cues (6-2). The Belgian meeting between De Jaeger and Davy van Havere was close, but de Jaeger won (50-48 in 55). It turned out to be decisive. Huub Wilkowski played a terrific match to beat Steven van Acker 50-26 in 37 innings.
Snellen Recycling has found the way back to the top half of the table. Their victory over Van de Broek Biljarts/Hanbat was crucial. Roland Forthomme, in a flawless match against In Won Kang brought home the points (50-34 in 24 innings). Peter Ceulemans, who faild four times to score the matchpoint, was the only one with a loss for Snellen: 50 – 49 against Frans van Schaik.
Landswelvaren and A1 Biljarts shared the points, which was a good result for the Zeeuwen. Henk Habraken (50-32 against Michael Nilsson) and Kees Wittens (50-39) won for the home team.