3-Cushion
LOMMEL – They both won the Superprestige three times in the past ten years, Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx. Roland Forthomme (three wins as well) and Eddy Leppens (once) were the only others in their company, on the honor roll. This evening, Caudron and Merckx will once again play the final in Lommel.
It took a minor miracle, because Frédéric Caudron may have had a better finish than Jef Philipoom, but Peter De Backer lost a miraculous match on 1 point to Eddy Merckx. The score was equally bizarre: De Backer had a 17 – 0 lead after 5 innings, but that margin was completely gone halfway as Merckx fought back: 23-23.
Frédéric Caudron had to endure interim scores of 13-13 and 19-19, but then got rid of the faltering Jef Philipoom. The title defender started his rush to the finish with a 6 in inning 13, and went from 32 – 21 and 37 – 24 to a 40 – 24 finish in 20 innings.
A little cynical smile on his face, he said: ,,There, that restores the balance'', referring to Philipoom’s remark after his win on Friday (“I believe I have won half my matches with Caudron”).
,,I have to respond to that”, Caudron said''. ,,There was a period, many years ago, when he did beat me a number of times, but that is ancient history. And a remark like that pushes my buttons. I took the opportunity to hit back.''
From the moment that Caudron had made his last point, all eyes in the full Adelberg arena were on the thriller on the other table.
Peter De Backer, five times a semifinalist in the past decade, had the initiative in the second half of the match as well. He was leading 32 – 26 after a run of 5 born out of a fluke, increased the margin to 34 -28 and 39 - 36.
,,I missed my matchball, and it was makeable'', said De Backer later. His miss was severely punished: Eddy Merckx kept his cool and ran out with a 4: 40 – 39 in 22.
The Belgian nrs. 1 and 2 so will play the final in the early hours of the evening. Their most recent meeting in this final was in 2008, when Merckx won the Superprestige.