3-Cushion
SAINT NICOLAS - Who will show up as the undisputed favorite for gold when the big guns are expected to battle it out at the World championships three cushion in Bordeaux next week? Dick Jaspers, who won the Lausanne Masters in a great style last week and played a 40 caroms match in 9 innings in a Dutch Grand Prix this week? Frédéric Caudron maybe, who is awe-inspiring for some weeks: the Belgian shines on all fronts this week, in a match against Torbjörn Blomdahl with a crazy finish 11-0-12. And a few days later, he grabbed a marvellous win on the final day of the BTS tournament in Sint Niklaas last night (Friday).
His two opponents were eaten alive, as they say in sports terms, by significant margins. Peter Ceulemans lost in the semi-final 40-13 in 13 innings. ,,He was merciless at the end'', said Ceulemans. And in the final match, Caudron played another 40 in 13 innings to beat Marco Janssen 40-16 (average 3.076 twice).
The conclusion after his performance was that the Belgian master is in a fantastic form just in time before the World championship and that, once up to speed, Caudron is unstoppable. The world champion of two years ago in Antwerp closed his match against Ceulemans with runs of nine, seven and ten (!) and against Janssen with four, eight and seven (!).
The crowded billiard room in De Witte Molen thoroughly enjoyed the high level: the audience for the final day was overwhelming. Caudron is the first leader this year in the BTS cycle, which is followed by three other tournaments later in the season.
The Belgian championship and the Belgium Cup count for the ranking as well. Moreover, there is good news regarding the Belgian multi-championship: Caudron certainly will return to the balkline tables this year.
In between, Marco Janssen won the other semi-final in Sint Niklaas against Davy van Havere with a pretty normal score: 40-32 in 30 innings.