3-Cushion
ANTWERP - They spoke mainly about the fabulous run that Frans van Kuyk produced in this round. The other players in the competition round showed a gread respect for the experienced master, who was so close to the world record in his match on monday.
In the matches later this week Eddy Leppens played againg on a high level against Dave Christiani. The Belgian player, who won the European titel for teams last sunday in Ankara, won his match in only 20 innings with an average of 2.500.
Frédéric Caudron beat Roland Forthomme (50-43 in 29 innings) in this meeting between KBC Zanzibar and BC Kasteeldreef. Leppens gave Christiani no chance at all (50-22), the other players from Kasteeldreef again could not win.
There were some remarkable results in this round. Three leaders stayed on top with 5 matchpoints. Quality Zele leads the ranking, KBC Zanzibar is on two, BC De Ploeg on three.
Jean Paul de Bruijn, who plays for Quality on table two, returned from Ankara this week, where he won silver for the Netherlands together with Raimond Burgman, was again well underway against Jef Philipoom. ,,Jef always is a tough opponent for me'', De Bruijn said. ,,We call it a black animal, but this time I could stop him in an early phase of the match.'' De Bruijn won 50-32 in 28 innings.
BC Deurne only won one match in this meeting. The new European team champion Eddy Merckx showed himself much stronger than Peter van Acker (50-31 in 26 innings).
Martin Horn (with 2.083 average against Rudy de Laet) and Dion Nelin (1.727 against Peter Ceulemans) were the only players in a very good shape in this match. The winning games for BC De Ploeg came from Martin Horn and Bart Ceulemans. Alan Jensen lost, but made a run of ten in his match against Kees Wittens.
More high runs: Roland Forthomme made a fifteen, Paul Stroobants 14, Eddy Leppens 13, Jean Paul de Bruijn 10, Patrick Kesteloot 11, Tom Persijn 11. But nobody could stand in the shadow of Frans van Kuyk with his 27.
The matches of the leaders:
Quality Zele-BC Deurne 6-2. Peter van Acker 0-1.192-8 - Eddy Merckx 50-1.923-7; Jean Paul de Bruijn 50-1.785-10 - Jef Philipoom 32-1.142-5; Patrick Kesteloot 42--1.200-11 - Davy van Havere 39-1.114-6; Mathieu Vlerick 42-1.000-5 - Thérese Klompenhouer 40-0.952-5.
KBC Zanzibar-BC Kasteeldreef 4-4. Roland Forthomme 43-1.482-15 - Frédéric Caudron 50-1.724-7; Dave Christiani 22-1.100-6 - Eddy Leppens 50-2.500-13; Jimmy Mues 42-1.354-6 - Peter Duytschaever 33-1.011-11; Paul Stroobants 42-1.272-14 - Piet Rodts 13-0.393-3;
Op de Meir-BC De Ploeg 4-4. Rudy de Laet 27-1.125-5 - Martin Horn 50-2.083-9; Kees Wittens 50--1.063-6 - Allan Jensen 47-1.000-10; Tom Persijn 42-1.400-11 - Wesley de Jaeger 36--1.200-5; Richard de Bruin 35-0.729-3 - Bart Ceulemans 42-0.875-6.
The ranking after three rounds:
1. Quality Zele 5-1.169; 2. KBC Zanzibar 5-1.213; 3. BC De Ploeg 5-1.120; 4. Mister 100 Lier 4-1.314; 5. BC Geox Herentals 4-1.168; 6. BC Lugo Deurne 3-1.057; 7. BC Biljart Express 3-1.247; 8. BC Deurne 2-1.146; 9. BC Kasteeldreef 2-1.120; 10. BC Kon Kortrijkdse 1-1.136; 11. Op de Meir 1-0.972; 12. BC Eeklose 1-0.921.