3-Cushion
MERKSEM - On the opening day of the Belgian league the heat was on in the match between BC Deurne and BC Herentals. The clash between Torbjörn Blomdahl and Martin Horn, teammates in France, ended in a draw (50-50 in 26) and Jef Philipoom finished his match against Christian Rudolph in 24 innings. It was the most exciting match on the first day. BC Deurne scored at two tables with Philipoom and Jean van Erp, who defeated Leon Smolders (42-22 in 31). Davy van Havere was treated to a cold shower by Geert Meylemans 42-30 in 34, bringing the final score to 5-3.
Roland Forthomme, always hungry for match wins, was the best man on this first match day with a victory over Glenn Hofman 50-32 in 23, 2.173 average. Christian Rudolph curiously scored the best run of all players in this round (12), however the German lost to Philipoom.
BC Deurne, BC Biljart Express and KBC Biljartvrienden are the first leaders in the competition, all three after a 5-3 victory. Billiart Express was not as superior as expected in the match against DOS Roeselaere: Frans van Kuyk bested Steven van Acker (50-31 in 32) and Guy van Litsenborg defeated Peter Mostrey 42-26 in 35. The winning match point came from Martin Spoormans, who played a draw against Philippe Vandendriessche: 42-42 in 46. Cédric Melnytschenko snatched the win against Gerwin Valentijn, for sure not an opponent to take lightly: 50-29 in 32.
KBC Biljartvrienden and BC Op de Meir met each other in a match with quite a bit of commotion outside the court. The victory eventually went to Biljartvrienden, beating the adversary which was seen as a top three team: 5-3.
John Tijssens and Johan Claessen took the win for Biljartvrienden against Barry van Beers (50-47 in 46) and Roland Uytdewilligen (42-35 in 28). Raimond Burgman came back from 21-7 down in ten innings against Eddy Leppens. The Dutchman came back into the match and played a draw 50-50 in 34.
The derby between the first and second team of De Ploeg remained in balance, thanks to an excellent Dustin Jäschke, playing for the second team (50-26 against Jaak Wijnen in 29 innings) and Therese Klompenhouwer, showing a great form against Jul van Asperen (42-14 in 28, 1.500 average).
KBC Zanzibar and De Witte Molen drew in their match. Roland Forthomme and Jimmy Mues scored for Zanzibar, Francis Forton (50-44 in 41 against Dave Christiani) and Ad Broeders for De Witte Molen.
Mister 100 Lier plays its home match on Thursday against De Goeie Queue.
Francis Forton defeated Dave Christiani