KREFELD - Billiards in Germany had Dieter Müller in the past as a great player in all disciplines and had to wait until Martin Horn came up as a top player in three-cushion. Thorsten Frings from Krefeld met these technically talented player in the military service and has developed since then as a player who's making progress every year. The 32-year-old plays in the league in his own country, in the Netherlands and in Belgium and will try to improve himself againt.
Thorsten Frings at the start of a new season: the talent, the ambition and the sense of reality.
He was born on June 22, 1979 in Marl, went there to the elementary school and later to high school, he has three sisters and wants to build up a family with his girlfriend Janine in the near future. ,,We have been moved to other places due to our work a few times, but eventually we returned to Krefeld.''
His first acquaintance with billiards in 1991 in Marl was in very funny. Thorsten Frings lived at three hundred meters from a club of which he didn't know what they were doing there. ,,One day a friend and I walked along the streets and we were thinking about some shit to do, as children of 11 years often do. Then we saw a few guys with nice clothes enter the building. They wore black pants, a white shirt and a yellow waistcoat. We decided to go inside and we saw them playing a competition on the small table. Luckyly we were not told to go away and we said that we would come back one week later. They apologized that the timing was too bad now, but anyway, we returned to play ourselves. That was the start of my career actually.''
He met Martin Horn during his military service, he stayed there for four years in the sport forces of the army and after that time he started to think what to do. ,,I had two options in fact, try to become a professional player or do something real serious. I decided to do something else and participated in a crash course for soldiers to pass the exam to a wholesaler. And I did it. Unfortunately I didn't get a job and I decided to make another education. But now in a company, the butter branch Kerrygold. Therefore I went to Krefeld, where my girlfriend Janine was already living. I cut that education to two years and worked like a normal worker in a company for that time.''
After het finished that company, they couldn't offer him the job he wanted, so he needed to look for another one. Thorsten: ,,I got one very quickly and from September 2006 I'm working for KYB Europe GmbH in Krefeld, the world's biggest manufacturer of shock absorbers for cars. My job is to fullfill customer's wishes and send ordered goods in time to Russia or other countries. Russia and neighbour countries is the area I am responsible for together with my colleague. The job is very heavy sometimes, but this is what it makes it interesting for me. Easy things can be done by everybody...''
It was in December 1991 that he joined his first billiards club. ,,One year later I played 2.60 average free game on the small table in my first season. Due to my talent I came to some seminars very quickly. My teacher was Naruhn Werner. That time the support for youth was very good and since I was fifteen I got the chances to go to summer ccourse, a trainings camp for two weeks with around ten players in ages until 21. We were a few guys with the same age and we pushed each other to a very good level of playing. It was a very good experience. The teachers were Naruhn Werner, Klaus Hose (unfortunately only one time) and later on a few guest teachers like Fabian Blondeel.''
He started his career at the small table with free game, but later played all disciplins in the junior classic disciplines such as 47/2. Three-cushion he started to play during his military service with Martin Horn as his opponent.
,,My first club was BSC Marl, later I played for BC Feldmark (Gelsenkirchen), I returned to Marl and also to play for Feldmark and now I am in Horster Eck in Essen. Right now I play in four teams. Two in Germany, one in the Netherlands and one in Belgium. I play at the small table with BG RW Krefeld (but at least two to four times a year for fun).''
,,My German team Hortser Eck is very important for me, I played with that team in the European Cup last year. I play for Berendhaus Group in the Netherlands and in Belgium for BC De Ploeg. I was always happy with my teams, because I can't play in a team with guys I do not like or who are totally different than me. But I can't say now which team is my favorit. In every team we have a good spirit, that's why we have succes. Last year we were champion in the Netherlands in the second division and got our promotion to the Premiership. And with Horster Eck in Europe, is always a great experience.''
His greatest progress he made in the time he went to work. ,,I played very much with Martin Horn during my military service. But obviously I've wasted a lot. When I started to work I thought about bringing work, girlfriend and billiard together and it looked I found a way that was working. That time my average was about 1.000 and I improved to 1.150.''
,,But I played the same shit a few years, I noticed, so I started to think again. May be I was the first in Germany who did that way, but I went to a sport psychologist. The result was that I got a different view to some things and I began to play better. Since I was in 'therapy'I played two times one set in one inning and several times I played over two agerage. I improved my (unofficial) high run to 28: finished one set with 10, then made 15 and started again with 3. I played my best year ever, 1.380 over 18 matches in Germany. The next year was very difficult , but now I think I can play constantly 1.200 and more.''
The ambition is hard to combine with his work and spending time at home. ,,Yes, it's really difficult to do. Last year I had signed up for the World Cup in Hurghada, but I had to play the first qualifying round on Sunday, on the day that I had to play in the league. So I had to cancel my participation. So, I will not lose the aim to play totally, but I guess I will stop trying to play more intensivly. Already I'm spending most of my holiday for billiard and to be honest: there are some other things to do than playing billiards. The second reason is that there is no recovering for me. Also when I have my holiday at work, and that's normally a time to recover, I play tournaments. Then you feel stress as well. Sometimes it should be better for me to do nothing in billiards.''
Thorsten Frings seems to be on the crossroads of his career. ,,There is a fine line between what you think you can and what you really can. I would obviously like to play more and better than I do now. And I know that I did reach my top level, but to reach that level, you need to practice. I don't have time for that due to my work. I'm just glad that I can train two hours a week. Sometimes my work allows me to practice for 4 to 6 weeks and I'm just playing my matches in the team. I will continue to do this of course and do my best. I want to have fun, that's my main ambition.''
Just some numbers about billiards in Germany. Thorsten: ,,It's difficult to estimate the three-cushion players we have. We play in the Bundesliga with ten teams and two leagues in Bundesliga two with ten teams each. Then you have 120 players at least and you have the reserve players too. And we have the lower classes below the Bundesliga. I think we have between a thousand and 1200 three-cushion players all over Germany to play in the leagues or tournaments. The highest concentration of players is in North Rhine-Westphalia, that's the aera from Cologne to Münster. There we have the half of the players in Germany, I guess.
What are the chances for the teams he will play for this season? ,,We are definitely a team for the low places in the highest league in the Netherlands. We have no chance to maintain that high level, but sure we will play for it, why not? In Belgium we have a strong team for the second division. All four players are very strong: Allan Jensen, Dirk Weeremans, Eddy Willems and me. I think we can play a serious role and if we enjoy it, it will be difficult to beat us.''
,,In Germany we are the big favorite for the title of course, with Blomdahl, Horn, Kim, me, Domer, Eversmann and Van den Berg. But we have many players in the team and everyone must play. But if we keep the spirit of last three years, we are able to defend the title. That must be our goal.''
Thorsten Frings, lastly, is not only a billiard player, he's also a company man. He loves watching billiards, he likes the beauty of the game, to play himself, but also wants to have fun at the bar. ,,My favorite players are Blomdahl, Sánchez, Sayginer, Caudron and many other top players. I like to see them play, but I even like it more to have a beer with them at the bar after having watched them at the billiards, talking about our sport and other things in life.''