3-Cushion
DOETINCHEM - The "wave" danced through the billiard room during this spectacular and history-making final. The fans from The Hague and Brabant sang yelled, cheered and whistled as they started their victory party in De Veemarkt in Doetinchem, celebrating the new Dutch team champion: SIS Schoonmaak, that had beaten HCR Prinsen in the second leg of the play-offs by 5 to 3, having drawn the first match 4-4. The title was rightfully theirs, because they had finished first after 22 rounds of regular play in the Buffalo League.
The eye catcher was the match between Glenn Hofman and Dick Jaspers. The player from the Hague took a quick 7-1 lead, extended it to 14-4 and even 35-5, to finally win 40-15 in 18 innings. Doing so, Glenn Hofman got his revenge for the loss in the first match (40-25 in 13), and he put his team on the right path. For Prinsen, Eddy Leppens did beat Jean van Erp, thanks to a strong second half with runs of 12, 8 and 7. But Raimond Burgman slammed the door in Prinsen's face when he beat de Kleine 40-29 in 26. Jeffrey Jorissen looked well on his way to a win as well, but Jelle Pijl produced a crafty 7 in the equalizer to draw 40-40 in 30. It took the win by SIS to 5-3 figures.
The first part of the match was almost surreal. The players from The Hague were out of the blocks like lightning and they had the lead on four tables: 24-4 for Hofman, 24-12 for Jean van Erp, 32-20 for Burgman and 20-6 for Jorissen. At that point, they were 58 points ahead and looked certain of the win. The margin was reduced by Prinsen later, but the damage had been done.
The match took place in a cauldron, the likes of which has never been seen in top billiards in the Netherlands. The spectators from The Hague and Brabant produced decibels as if they were in a soccer stadium or at a darts final. Dick Jaspers, who averaged below 0,5 for a while, apparently had the most problems dealing with those unfamiliar conditions. He was outsmarted by Glenn Hofman, who played brilliantly.
The lead player from the Hague and his team mates were over the moon with the second title in three years. ,,It was a fantastic weekend for us'', said Hofman. ,,I did not consider us to be the favorites, because they had Jaspers and Leppens on board one and two. But we did it anyway. It is a great result for the team. Against Jaspers, I got into a lovely flow, a rhythm. I made a nine early, he missed, I ran seven, he missed, I ran six. It frees you up. I was so focused that I hardly saw the other tables, but I knew we were doing well.''
Glenn Hofman spoke out against the behavior of some of the fans. "It was too much, I don't care for that. The strange thing is, that I don't even know these people. The Hague now gets a bad reputation, but these were not our loyal fans. I don't know who they were here for, but if they came for me, I would have said: please behave normal. As I did not know them, I did not feel I was the one who should say something. It is my position that you should always be respectful to your opponents.''
Dick Jaspers agreed that the victory by SIS was well deserved, but he also voiced his annoyance with the crowd. ,,I am a good loser, and SIS were good winners. Glenn Hofman played a superb match, I could not stop him. But the playing conditions we were faced with are inexcusable. I have spoken to many people who said that this is not good for our sport. The comments and shouts were horrible. The referees could not be heard over the noise. We want to freshen up the sport, but this is taking it too far, this is not the way to go. I've only seen this in the Netherlands, nowhere else. The guys from SIS were unhappy about it as well, it's not their fault. This is not what our future should be.''
The losing team of Prinsen also had comments that were mild. Dinand Prinsen: ,,We should have won the first leg, that would have given us a chance. Now that we all started the match on the back foot, it was a losing battle. I don't mind all the cheering, if you play well, it doesn't bother you as much.''
Eddy Leppens: ,,A well-deserved win for the Hague, there's no denying it. Especially Glenn Hofman played like a king, he made the early difference. I found enough motivation in the atmosphere, but we lost anyway. I've said earlier, that I like to play in this type of cauldron. It's tough when opposing fans applaud your misses, but you should be able to take that. If you have to take a penalty kick in a stadium with 50.000 fans and they boo and whistle, you have to just stay cool. We should not complain about that.''
The results of the second play-off match:
Hofman-Jaspers 40-15 in 18
Van Erp-Leppens 31-40 in 21
Burgman-De Kleine 40-29 in 36
Jorissen-Pijl 40-40 in 30.
SIS players and team captain Cor Trampe
Glenn Hofman fully focused
Jeffrey Jorissen celebrates his last point