3-Cushion
ZUNDERT - The flying start of Torbjörn Blomdahl was the prelude to a final with many highlights, but with a winner who stuck out far above his opponent. The leader of the competition, with Dick Jaspers as the frontman and Torbjörn Blomdahl, Martin Horn and Jean van Erp as extremely strong players, won in Den Hoek in Zundert the national cup tonight.
The dream team of Van Donge en De Roo grabbed the win in the final against Crystal Kelly and was so dominant in four matches, that the whole match should not even be played until the end. Dick Jaspers showed himself in a much better form than Frédéric Caudron and Torbjörn Blomdahl took the win against Frans van Kuik after his brilliant start.
The supremacy of the reigning champion and cup holder was so great, that the tension disappeared with the powerful performances of Blomdahl and Jaspers. The question is now, which team can stop the champion in the coming years. Crystal Kelly, the opponent in the final this afternoon, stops after this season. The only team with potential is Delta in Sluiskil, which is probably playing under the name of Frans Bevers this year when the new league starts. Frédéric Caudron will strengthen that team and Peter De Backer, Eddy Leppens continue their contract, Jean Paul de Bruijn and Glenn Hofmann are the Dutch duo.'
The European junior champion Hofman said in the preparation for the ceremony tonight: ,,I can't believe that Van Donge can be beaten in this composition, because they have the best players at all four billiards when we speak about the entire league.''
That was evident in the four days of the cup final, in which Dick Jaspers lost his first match against Christian Rudolph, but his three teammates remained unbeaten in the tournament. Torbjörn Blomdahl made an unbeatable impression, Martin Horn was solid as ever, Jean van Erp an exceptionally strong player at four and Dick Jaspers played better as the tournament progressed.
,,I am not too happy about my performance'', Jaspers said after the tournament. ,,But the victory is particularly the success of the whole team. We always manage to be extremely motivated at the start of a match. That's our greatest strength.''
Team leader Peter Luck saw his team dominate the finals thanks to Dick Jaspers, who showed much more power than Frédéric Caudron (3-0 victory), Torbjörn Blomdahl, who defeated Frans van Kuik in a sterling performance (3-1), Jean van Erp (3-1 against Raymond Ceulemans) and Martin Horn, who could stop his match against Raimond Burgman after the decision had fallen.
When Torbjörn Blomdahl made his last carom, it was the signal for a small party in the arena. Dick Jaspers said afterwards: ,,For this team of Van Donge en De Roo it is the third time that we win this cup.'' Jaspers himself won four times in a row.