3-Cushion
SAINT-MAUR - Two players in the Andernos colors competed for the victory in the Grand Prix tournament in Saint-Maur. Jérôme Barbeillon showed himself superior in all his matches and defeated his fellow Andernos player Michel Dore in the final 40-21 in 26 innings. It was Barbeillon's first Grand Prix win since January 2014 in Laxou.
The Andernos player took his fifth national victory with the best average: 1.379. In the preliminaries he defeated Xavier Clausse and Thierry Roxo in 23 and 33 innings. On the final day, Barbeillon bested Louis Edelin in the quarterfinal in 38. Then he flattened his way to the final against Frédéric Roelants in the semi-finals 40-23 in 25. The only player of five opponents with more than 25 points against Barbeillon was Roxo.
Michel Dore's performance was excellent. The runner up, who never showed up that strong in an individual tournament, was the 45 ranked French player.
He started his qualifying series against the young Gwendal Marchal 40-33 in 37 and then kicked down Jean Reverchon 40-26 in 24 (1.667). In the quarters, Dore faced Cédric Melnytschenko: he fought back after a 29-24 backlog to win eventually 40-34 in 32.
In the semi-final, Pierre Soumagne seemed away too far after a quick start (23-5). Dore, however, recovered and was slightly ahead at the finish 40-39 in 47.
The podium was completed by Frédérik Roelants (average 1.125) and Pierre Soumagne (1.067).
The absentees in the final phase were Jérémy Bury, Francis Connesson and Jean Reverchon: they did not survive the pre-rounds. Jérémy Bury was eliminated by former junior world champion Adrien Tachoire 40-38 in 32.
The second Grand Prix tournament is in Schiltigheim from 27th to November 29th.
