Carom
BLANKENBERGE - It is hard to believe, but Raymond Ceulemans (79) is still the reigning world champion in the most basic of all disciplines: the free game. The famed collector of 3-cushion titles, to be found in the VIP area of the Blankenberge Multidiscipline tournament every day, was the 1969 (and last) world champion free game in Linz, ahead of Jean Marty from France and Jose Galvez from Spain. He likes to reminisce about the fact that he never produced more than 100 points in a systematic Serie Americaine, but kept playing a small "a la ligne" and re-gathering the balls.
The world championship in the free game (Ceulemans averaged 178.42, Marty 136.72 and Galvez 118.74) still drew a crowd in those days, but has not been played since because no organizers could be found. That means the world title has been in possession of the Belgian Grand Master for 48 years now. If the now unpopular discipline should ever appear on the calendar as a WC again, Ceulemans as the title holder would be an automatic seed. But when asked if he would use the privilege, the answer is an emphatic NO!
Raymond Ceulemans, in his long career, only won the Belgian title in the free game once, and is somewhere near the bottom of that particular list. Twenty-three year old Andy de Bondt, the new Belgian champion this Friday, is one of his successors. Frédérick Caudron is the record holder when it comes to Belgian national titles in all disciplines: 88 no less. Ceulemans has 61, Patrick Niessen has 31 and both René Vingerhoedt and Ludo Dielis have 30. Patrick Niessen leads in the free game with nine titles, ahead of Tony Schrauwen with eight.
It was anybody's guess who would win this year. Andy de Bondt was the favorite, after his flawless start against Johan Devos in a single inning, a second win and a draw against Maarten Janssen. Patrick Niessen, champion in the last three years, was the last hurdle for de Bondt on his way to a first national title. The 23-year old allrounder from Wilrijk dethroned the title holder in two innings: 199 and 201, to win 400-76 in 2.
His fist went into the air after the last point, and an emotional supporter came down from the stands to congratulate him. ,,It is rather special, because I have not had that much time to practice'', said Andy with a smile from ear to ear. ,,We are building a house, me and my father-in-law and my girlfriend. We do it all by ourselves. I have not had more than half an hour a day to practice, but it was enough to win. Maybe I was a little lucky, because Patrick was not at his best because of his back aches.''
From the VIP box, Ceulemans watched his son (Kurt) and grandson (Peter) at work in the K.O. stage of the 3-cushion. The first day of the eighth finals had begun with a strong performance by Steven van Acker, who ran away from Eddy Merckx with a ten and never gave up his lead. The talented west-Flemish amateur finished the job at 40-26 in 23. There will be no ninth 3-cushion title for Merckx, at least not this year.
Eddy Leppens was the best winner, when he defeated Martin Spoormans 40-19 in 19 innings. Frédéric Caudron had an uncomfortable start against Tom Persijn, but cruised at the end: 40-30 in 32. The first major surprise came from Patrick Kesteloot, a mature player who was one of the last to qualify for the main event. The Ghent player defeated Kenny Miatton, who is young and talented but not stable yet, and the 40-26 in 28 puts Kesteloot amongst the last eight for the first time in his life. Jef Philipoom has troubles with his leg and needs an operation soon. His impeded movements around the table do not stop him from playing excellent 3-cushion. He has the best match of the tournament to his name (40 in 11), and in Friday's session against Peter de Backer, he booked his place in the last 8: 40-25 in 28.
Frédéric Mottet ended the aspirations of one Ceulemans: Kurt was never in the match and it ended 40-31 in 28. Peter Ceulemans protected the family name when he beat Marco Janssen, who had a bad start but came back halfway. Peter finished the job in a classy manner, defending and scoring well: 27 in 20.
Roland Forthomme battled himself more than he did Davy van Havere, looked lost for 10 or fifteen innings, then found some inspiration. A run of eleven brought him back in the lead (22-18 in 17), but it was a last gasp. Van Havere took full advantage of Forthomme's lesser day and won 40-29 in 28 innings.
Who have produced the great runs so far in this Belgian championship? Andy de Bondt had 400 in 1 inning in the free game against Johan Devos, and that same Devos made 300 in 1 inning in 47/2 against Patrick Niessen. Those were the only maximum runs so far. Philippe Deraes had the highest run in 71/2, with 160), Frédéric Caudron in 1-cushion (101) and Eddy Leppens in 47/1 (168).
Patrick Niessen is not the title-grabber he is used to being. The expert balkline player has back problems, and it eats away at his focus and ability to make high runs. His Friday afternoon match in 1-cushion against Martin Spoormans was a train wreck. It ended in a 150-150 draw in no fewer than 30 innings. Patrick Niessen: ,,I don't want to come up with an excuse, but it is clear to see that I am not feeling well. Two days of flu, and then I did a lot of physical work and dislodged a vertebra. It makes it much harder for me to position myself at the table.''
Frédéric Caudron, later in the day, did much better in 1-cushion against Spoormans, winning 150-40 in 6.
With two days of play still to go, the favorites for the titles in the classic disciplines are:
Free gamel: won by Andy de Bondt
47/2: Eddy Leppens, Patrick Niessen and Johan Devos
47/1: Patrick Niessen en Eddy Leppens
71/2: Patrick Niessen, Maarten Janssen and Philippe Deraes
Bandstoten: Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Leppens.
Andy de Bondt, first senior Belgian title
Steven van Acker defeats Eddy Merckx
Leppens has the high run in 47/1
Caudron is still the favorite in 1-cushion
Patrick Niessen: back problems
Maarten Janssen, the busiest player in Blankenberge