3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM – May we say that the mental coach (of Eddy Leppens has done a very good job? And that both Nikos Polychronopoulos and Jean Christophe Roux in the other group have a walk in the park to advance for the next round?
Eddy Leppens recovered from a very bad start with a win over Jérôme Barbeillon this afternoon. Nikos Polychronopoulos took his third victory in a good, but not super match against Joao Ferreira.
We can conclude that there are only some shots in the dark in the preliminaries of the Agipi Masters, where the big guns will show up in the final stages and the averages are disappointing in this group phase.
Look how it is after six rounds of ten:
Nikos Polychronopoulos 1.456
Jean Christophe Roux 1.327
Dion Nelin 1.257
Javier Palazón 1.254
Roland Forthomme 1.206
Eddy Leppens 1.190
Raimond Burgman 1.163
Xuan Cuong Ma 1.132
Jérôme Barbeillon 1.058
Joao Ferreira 0.764
Nikos Polychronopoulos played at the table this afternoon, of which many players assure it is by far the most difficult of the two in the famous Agipi arena. The Greek, nontheless, made a nice run of nine after the break (where he said that the balls do not roll... they dance on the table). He then made the final gap against his opponent (39-17) and improved his level after a minor start.
Eddy Leppens commented, talking about the same table: ,,I cannot explain why, but the only player I've ever seen here, playing a great match from the start, was Marco Zanetti.''
The Belgian played a lot better himself at the other table with a promising start against Barbeillon. He came out of the blocks with a sprint to 17-2 in six innings, then had a little slump, but Leppens' match still turned out in a comfortable win: 50-30 in 31.