Three superior Belgians and an ice cold Swede

NEW YORK - The rematch of last year, with Torbjörn Blomdahl and Pedro Piedrabuena at the billiard table, was decisive for the fourth player in the semifinals. The Swede survived one match point (a kiss) of the Pan American champion and eventually took the win with one carom: 40-39 in 24 innings.

The outcome was not surprising: the Belgians, with Frédéric Caudron, Eddy Merckx and... Raymond Ceulemans werd the big guns in the Verhoeven Open in New York and will color the final day with three men in the semifinals.

The fourth player is not the first best. Torbjörn Blomdahl is the number one in the world, one of the greatest players ever with a huge honor roll: today, for sure, he needed a little bit of luck to dethrone last year’s winner.

The Belgian festival in the quarterfinals was a demonstration of world class level. Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx are no surprises, of course, Raymond Ceulemans, the forerunner of all Belgians, certainly is.

The 76-year-old master decided only one week in advance to travel to New York. He was invited, as he is by Ludo Dielis for the World championship in Antwerp this year. But alrady for a few years, Ceulemans does not show up in individual tournaments anymore, only in the team competitions.

However, he traveled to the Big Apple, and the result is amazing. The indestructible champion outplayed Eddy Leppens in the previous round and bested another revelation in the quarterfinals: the American Miguel Torres, who remained unbeaten in the previous round.

The three Belgian winners in the quarterfinals were superior in their matches. Frédéric Caudron defeated Roland Forthomme, the champion of his country, in fifteen innings 40-23 (2.666). Raymond Ceulemans played at the same level against Miguel Torres (40-23 in 15, 2.666) and Eddy Merckx finished his duel with Gerhard Kostistanski with 40-25 in 17 innings (2.352).

Torbjörn Blomdahl needed a longer fight to decide the fascinating match against PiedrabBuena: 1.666 for the Swede, 1.625 for his opponent.

The semi-finals are:

Caudron-Ceulemans

Merckx-Blomdahl.