3-Cushion
LILLE - On the evening before the final Therese Klompenhouwer said: ,,I have to do something impossible tonight, to defeat Danielle le Bruijn at the bar...'' The Dutch billiards star, who had already three European titles, didn't know at that moment that the Belgian player would be her opponent in the final one day later in Euralille in Lille.
The Dutch/Belgian encounter ended like all the experts had expected. Therese won the tournament on cruise control, she's the European champion for the fourth time in her career, played a record average of 1.021, won all her matches and all sets and was crowned as the absolute star of the tournament.
Players such as Therese Klompenhouwer (28, from Nijkerk), with all her class, the mentality of which men could be jealous and an enomous self-confidence, we can't find two of them in the women's circuit. She proved it in the USB Open, two weeks ago in New York, where she won the tournament with global top players, including the still reigning world champion Orie Hida.
,,I couldn't have a better preparation than there'', the champion said after the ceremony this afternoon. ,,Ik played both tournaments in New York, for women and for men, so I played 23 matches in seven days. This was in my luggage here, I played with a tremendous confidence. I haven't been in trouble in all my matches, only in the final my playing was not so good in the first set. We both played defensive and the positions were difficult.''
The Dutch lady however won that first set 12-8 in 22 innings. The feeling was back in the second, which she finished in eleven innings 12-4. ,,You play for the title, the innings are less important at that moment. My best matches I had in the semifinals and earlier in the tournament: two times 24 caroms in sixteen innings.''
She defeated in the preliminaries her later opponent in the finals, Danielle le Bruijn, who anyway seeded for the next round. Thereafter Therese beat Marianne Mortensen and Michael Esser, she won in the quarterfinals against Jaimie Buelens and in the semifinals she defeated Karina Jetten.
Danielle le Bruijn won almost all her matches on character and fighting spirit: in the quarterfinals against Gülsen Degener, with a few lucky caroms in the decisive phase and in the semifinals against Helga Mitterböck.
Two important competitors for the title, Gülsen Degener and Gerrie Geelen, were already eliminated in an earlier stage. Karina Jetten had to bow for the later champion in the semifinals, Jaimie Buelens, young and talented, had the misfortune to meet Klompenhouwer in her first match after the preliminaries.
The European championship didn't excel by a high general level: only the champion showed a stable form and played many of her matches over one average. Many other matches ended prematurely by the inning-limit of 25. Jaimie Buelens had a few outliers, but also had too much bad moments in crucial matches. Therefore she's not ready for beating Therese Klompenhouwer in this phase of her career.
At the podium of honour the Dutch and European champion was on top, passionately encouraged by members of her fan club. On second place there was the Belgian lady with a lot of experience. The Austrian Helga Mitterböck, who won in the past on a World championship a match against Klompenhouwer, was on third place, together with Karina Jetten, who won the silver medal in the last World championship.
The conclusion at the end: it is time for a new generation and young blood in women's billiards. The mastery of Therese Klompenhouwer is sacrosanct for many years and will continue for a long time.