Dick Jaspers with a triumphant series of wins

OOSTERHOUT – The Dutch champion Dick Jaspers only had one small hiccup in the GP Oosterhout, when Harrie van de Ven came out of the blocks like a rocket and put him under lots of pressure. Even then did the man from Brabant find an escape: a win from the penalty spots. It marked a triumphant series of wins in the main tournament, remarkable even for him. Jaspers had no peer in this GP, winning the semi against Dave Christiani 40-30 in 16, and the final against Jean Paul de Bruijn with an even more convincing 40-16 in 14.

What a demonstration of class it was. It should boost the Dutchman’s confidence for next week’s World Cup in Porto, Portugal. That is important for Jaspers, because world ranking points and positions in the top-12 are at stake.

The Oosterhout GP ended with a final between the two players who deserved that privilege. Jean Paul de Bruijn had to dig deep against Therese Klompenhouwer, and overcame Raimond Burgman, who had had such a good start, in the semi by 40-33 in 23.

Dave Christiani also had shown good form in the earlier stages, with a best match in 13 innings. In the semi though, he ran into a superior Jaspers.

The end result placed Dick Jaspers on the podium on Saturday, with a score sheet that has seldom been seen in the KO stages of a Grand Prix: wins in 14, 17, 16 and 14 innings, resulting in a grand average of 2.622. 

It only solidifies his top position in the national ranking, after Rosmalen, Amsterdam and Oosterhout. Jaspers has won the last two, and now leads with 186 points. Martien van der Spoel has 132, Barry van Beers has 118, Raimond Burgman has 114 and Jean Paul de Bruijn has 106.

The high run in Oosterhout was made by Jean van Erp (16), the best match was played by  Dave Christiani (13 innings).

The organization and tournament director in De Eekhoorn delivered an immaculate tournament.

De top tien van de Grote Prijs in Oosterhout (gemiddeldes en serie):

1 Dick Jaspers 2.121-8

2 Jean Paul de Bruijn 1.422-10

3 Raimond Burgman 1.676-8

4 Dave Christiani 1.503-11

5 Harrie van de Ven 1.466-7

6 Barry van Beers 1.321-13

7 Jeffrey Jorissen 1.208-8

8 Martien van der Spoel 1.101-8

9 Glenn Hofman 1.606-7

10 Jean van Erp 1.187-16.