3-Cushion
KORTRIJK/EMBRUN - The main news in Belgian billiards came from the federation. For the first time in 22 years, the Belgian cup final will not be played in Hooglede next year, but almost certainly in the Liège region. Reginald Depoorter, the chairman who said farewell last year, a home child in De Gulden Zonne in Hooglede, must have suffered a sleepless night. The billiards world responded in different words. ,,Why not go somewhere else'' and ,,what a pity that we leave there.'
More exciting were the movements on the green and blue cloths in the fifth round of the Belgian league. Martin Horn suffered the biggest biggest loss in his career in the Netherlands on Sunday and recovered one day later in Belgium with a great win. The Ceulemans team was knocked down in a rarely seen, collective off-day. And how strange is it that Steven van Acker from Eeklo wins all his matches in Holland and (almost) loses them all in Belgium.
BC Deurne accentuated its role as the proud frontrunner with an 8-0 win in the away match against Kortrijk. The pursuers made some missteps. Mr 100 Lier was beaten by De Witte Molen (7-1), De Goeie Queue and Op Meir played 4-4, BC Herentals beat Biljart Express for a spot in the top five of the ranking and Quality Zele spoiled one match point against Mister 100 Lier 2, that took its first match point.
Martin Horn replied about the huge loss in the Netherlands against Jean van Erp (40-6 in 15 innings): ,,My biggest loss ever: no positions, no luck, not a good attitude and too many bad shots. That can happen to everyone. You must accept it and, try to learn and improve.'' Monday, after a fast-recovery (win over Frans van Kuyk 50-36 in 21): ,,I could make a mental come-back. I wanted to prove myself and did a great job. That makes me very happy. Three cushion can be very cruel, but also very beautiful. You can only enjoy success, if you accept the bullshit.''
Steven van Acker must have had the same feeling. The Belgian leading player in the Eeklo team is the best man of his team (Dallinga) in the Netherlands, still undefeated (five wins, one draw) and won with almost two average against Gerwin Valentijn last Sunday. This Monday, the same Van Acker was not a shadow of himself in Belgium when he lost to Roland Forthomme with sixteen points in 27 (0.592). That was his fifth Belgian loss in six matches.
Mister 100 Lier returned home from De Witte Molen after a painful punishment. The evening started with losses for Raymond and Bart Ceulemans against Pierre Soumagne and Ad Broeders with 0.6 and 0.7 on average. Bart Ceulemans sent out a fb-message after Kurt's loss against Francis Forton (50-34 in 39), writing: ,,The team average at least is gowing up.'' Peter Ceulemans, the best man by far, ran out to a big advantage against Dirk Weeremans, but was almost beaten by a run of 11. ,,I was lucky that I could still make a draw.'' For Weeremans it was his first match point in six appearances.
Eddy Merckx and Jeffrey Jorissen were the two players who reached their high level for Quality. Merckx with a win over Marco Janssen (50-17 in 19), Jorissen beating Rudy Persyn with 42 in 20. Ad Koorevaar and Tom Persyn defeated Peter De Backer and Freddy van Kerckhove and brought the score to 4-4.
In the Deurne team, Jef Philipoom realized his sixth win out of six performances. Glenn Hofman defeated Dave Christiani (50-44 in 38), Jean van Erp was the best winner with 2.100 on average.
Eddy Leppens won the match against Fred Caudron in the final sprint: after 24-24 and 37-37, Leppens scored 8, 4 and 1 to pass the finish line (50-44 in 28). Jean Paul de Bruijn is in a lesser period and lost to Roland Uytdewillegen 50-46 in 38. The damage for De Goeie Queue was limited by the players at three and four. Wesley de Jaeger remained undefeated, but needed 62 innings for his win against Ivan Stitschinsky, who had to go to hospital for a knee surgery one day later.
The top of the ranking:
1 BC Deurne 11 points
2 De Goeie Queue 9
3, 4 and 5; Mr. 100 Lier, Quality and BC Herentals, 8 points.
The Deurne team still leading the ranking: left to right Glenn Hofman, Jef Philipoom, Jean van Erp, Davy van Havere