Carom
BLANKENBERGE - The youngest of the famous billiard family overtopped himself during the first days of the Multi championships in Blakenberge. Bart Ceulemans (36), the ever cheerful grandson of billiard legend Raymond Ceulemans, qualified for the best sixteen in three cushion at the Belgians. He finished second led by his brother Peter with an excellent average. He commented, in his typical Mechelen dialect: "I slept a long night this Sunday in a little hotel and I know again that I can play billiards."
Two wins in the group, one loss against Peter led to a second place in the group stage with 1.308 on average and a run of 12. Bart admits, ''I haven't shown that level for a long time, because I played badly in the first part of the competition. 'The whole team is not doing well and my 'bompa' Raymond is getting older. it's not so easy for Peter to win on first position and my games were terrible. I have a little excuse for it: my wife Emmy has a second child, who keeps me awake in the night."
The young father of three and a half year Vik and 9 months Leon is suffering long days and nights. He works long days at 'Bakkers Vlaanderen', for which he does the communication and writes the magazine for around some thousand bakers. ''The nights are a bit shorter because of little Leon, the working days are long. I rarely have time to practice and every week we have to play with the team in the evening. I did feel tired and decided to do a better preparation for the Belgian championship. I said to Emmy: honey, I can't go there like that. I went to a hotel on Sunday evening and could sleep nine hours. I felt top fit again when I came to the billiards. And playing well, of course, it feels very well.''
It did not miss its effect for the youngest Ceulemans. Two strong matches, a run of twelve, an unexpected high level and four match points brought him to the next round at the Multi's, for the second time in six show ups. ''I was even leading well against Peter, who finished great with runs of fifteen and six. So I finally lost the match. After the match I went to my grandma with a smile and said: at the next family party it's him or me."
The two brothers, with a three year difference, have two completely other characters in terms of billiards. ''Peter has decided when he was ten that he wanted to be a billiard player. He lived and adjusted his life and is much more fanatic. He trains much more and has developed better. I never had that ambition myself. My attitude has always been that I want to have fun, that billiards is a hobby. I play for pleasure. The decision when I was young was: working or playing billiards. And I realized that I couldn't make it my profession. I could do better, grow to a better level with more efforts, but it does not pay off."
Bart, who lives in the same street in Mechelen about 200 meters away from Peter, does not have the discipline to train and make many hours like his brother. ''He sometimes asks me to come and train with him at his home. But he is so much better, I have to watch all the time. That's why I occasionally prefer to train on my own."
The average that he played in the groups is exceptional. ''I felt in a flow, then I know that I can score well. I expect to meet a better draw with that average. The first time I qualified, I played Roland Forthomme. I wasn't bad at all, but I lost 40-34 at the end."
The ranking of the first qualification groups in three cushion (first two players move up to last sixteen):
Group C:
1 Steven van Acker 6-1,071-5
2 Geert Meylemans 4-0,816-9
3 Bart Leys 2-0,816-5
4 Danny Wuyts 0-0,673-7
Group D:
1 Peter Ceulemans 6-1,411-15
2 Bart Ceulemans 4-1,308-12
3 Patrick Kesteloot 2-0,721-7
4 Marco Janssen 0-0,895-7.
Bart Ceulemans with his wife Emmy and children
The Ceulemans team in competition: Peter, Bart, Kurt and Raymond