3-Cushion
ISTANBUL - The Turkish ovation, at the end of a long and tough day sounded as music to the ears of the champions. The hegemony in the European Cup for teams has moved in two years from Agipi to Bahcelievler, which team was again the strongest in the final battle. The Belgians of BC Deurne were defeated in the decisive already after two wins.
The brilliant leader Tayfun Tasdemir didn't care at all about Dick Jaspers' reputation from his last match when the Dutchman played the best match of the tournament: Frédéric Caudron was beaten in ten innings. The roles were suddenly reversed in the final: the cold-blooded Turkish number one Tasdemir had a fantastic start off (13 in the second inning), built up his lead with runs of six and nine to 38-18 in ten and then topped his opponent with a majestic finish: 40-27 in thirteen innings (3.077/2.077).
It was not the only match in which the Turks dominated the final. Murat Naci Coklu knocked down his opponent Jean Paul de Bruijn by a mile to 40-23 in 25. The Turkish number three played at his normal level (1.600), the Dutchman remained far below (0.920). And because the difference in caroms was already too large after these two wins (30 caroms), the match was finished when the Turks in the stands started cheering the champions passionately.
The only consolation for BC Deurne was that Eddy Merckx led, at the time that the final was stopped, 29-26 against Lütfi Cenet, but not in a great performance (26 innings). And Davy Havere had 33-29 lead against Adnan Yüksel, which was only important for the statistics.
The European Cup remains for at least another year in Turkey, mainly thanks to the strong team spirit, shown in some difficult moments. The start of the tournament was impressive with a 8-0 victory over BC Deurne in the preliminaries and a 6-2 victory over Coral Colon. Lütfi Cenet was the best player in the first session against Merckx (in 18 innings), in the second he lost against Sergio Jimenez, the only Turkish loss in the group phase.
When the two leaders against FC Porto were defeated in the semifinals by Torbjörn Blomdahl and Dani Sánchez, virtually without a chance, the numbers three and four stood up. Murat Naci Coklu, with four wins the big earner for the champion when it really matered, defeated Manuel Santos Oliveira, Adnan Yüksel clinched victory in the decisive match against Rui Costa.
The final match against the Belgian team, with its top players Jaspers and Merckx in the first sessions already beaten 8-0, turned out into a demonstration of high class. Tayfun Tasdemir, in his own environment, a fabulous leader of the team, defeated for the second consecutive time Dick Jaspers and Murat Naci Coklu snatched the win against Jean Paul de Bruijn, who was not on his best at all.
The question that came along after the victory was of course: will Bahcelievler be able to go for the triple next year for its own crowd? Or can the new top team with Frédéric Caudron, Dick Jaspers, Eddy Merckx and Jean Paul de Bruijn break the supremacy?
The Turkish winner didn't worry for now and fully enjoyed the second European success.
The tournament in Turkey was also marked by the farewell of the former, eightfold champion Agipi. The players from the top team brought a tribute to their team manager Claude Fath wearing a sticker with: Merci Claude.
