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Two leaders, many teams in hot pursuit

10/04/2015

Published by frits bakker

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© © Kozoom
Glenn Hofman had a strong finish in his match against Gerwin Valentijn

OOSTERHOUT/BARENDRECHT - The best and most spectacular 3-cushion of this round was played in the room of the defending champion. Frédéric Caudron beat Eddy Merckx in topsy-turvy match of high quality. A1 Biljarts lost a point in Sluiskil, but it is still one of the teams in hot pursuit. The best piece of trivia from this 6th day of play in the Eredivisie: three Ceulemansen (Raymond, Kurt and Peter) made 149 of their required 150 points, but none of them could win their match.

Two teams are ahead after today's round: MCR/De Uitspanning with 11 points and STZ Zundert with ten points. A foursome of second echelon teams follows on 8 points (A1 Biljarts, Buffalo.nl, Holland Mineraal and Eekhoorn), with HCR Prinsen as the first team of the bottom half. MCR/De Uitspanning was never impressed by the opposition of Post Luchtkanalen, that had no chance in three of the four encounters. Eddy Leppens, Dave Christiani and Sander Jonen recorded comfortable wins. Thorsten Frings finished his job at 50-41, but saw Bert van Manen make the missing 9 in the equalizing inning (50-50 in 42).

Eddy Leppens and Dave Christiani were productive in the second half of their matches against Davy van Havere and Wilco van Wijk. Dave: ,,I have a lot of 26-inning wins this year. It did not look like one today, but from 17-27 for Wilco, I made three sevens and a six.'' Leppens won 50-30 in 25, Christiani 50-33 in 26.

STZ Zundert surfed past a dangerous cliff in their away game against Eekhoorn, as three members of the Ceulemans family met. The uncle-nephew dinner was not really haute-cuisine, but they did share dessert when Peter equalized with 1:(50-50 in 44). Raymond Ceulemans was left with a bitter aftertaste when he lost to Barry van Beers on a single point. Raymond used up too much time at 47-47 and conceded a break-off to Barry who made it 47-49, but then missed his last point three times over. Raymond got as far as 49, missed his last as well and had no equalizer when van Beers made it 49-50 in 52.

The battle of the giants between Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx, in the room where they were so successful together last season, was wild and exciting. Merckx was off to an impressive start, leading 24-7 after ten innings, runs of eight and nine. Caudron's comeback was even stronger. He went from 27-17 to 27-27 in the eleventh inning, ran a nine in the 13th inning and from 33-42 he finished with eight (33-50 in 20). Jean Paul de Bruijn was responsible for the other Dallinga win, in a Dutch classic against Raimond Burgman. It was close until the 20th inning (24-26 to Burgman) but the home player had the last laugh: 50-41 in 30.

Holland Mineraal defeated 't Hartje/Van Wanrooy, with wins for Stefan Galla, John Schollink and Stefan Spilleman. Buffalo.nl beat De Distel 6-2, with Glenn Hofman as the best winner in 28 innings. The player from The Hague appears to have left the Colombia trip behind him, and has found his form. ,,I played a good match against Gerwin Valentijn, it was 22-15 after eighteen innings but I ran a seven just before the halftime break. Gerwin responded with a nine, but then I made fourteen, and that was the decision in the match: 50-29 in 28.

HCR Prinsen sent VDO back to Oss empty-handed: the 8-0 win was booked by Anno de Kleine, Jelle Pijl, Raymund Swertz and Michel van Silfhout.

Jean Paul de Bruijn won the classic against Raimond Burgman

Kurt and Peter Ceulemans played a draw

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