3-Cushion
CHATILLON - There is always the memory of the incredible match, when Roland Forthomme plays against Torbjörn Blomdahl. The memorial day that the Belgian rose far above himself and beat his opponent 50-9 in eleven innings. That's indeed a very long time ago. The two players were facing now in Chatillon, in the semi-finales of the French championship.
The Swede won the first meeting, Forthomme played very disappointing (0.800 average). But the Belgian, through the years, is an unpredictable player for his opponents: the brilliant form comes like a whirlwind in a bright and sunny landscape. The frontman of Andernos had a marvellous start after 10-1 in two innings, kept the distance over his opponent throughout the race and eventually won 50-40 in 21 innings. The revenge tasted sweet, the place in the finals for Andernos was already certain.
The calculators had quantified previously: if Laxou won the two matches after the break, the score would be 4-4. But before Blomdahl started against Forthomme and Horn against De Backer, it was certain that Andernos only needed 58 caroms to be in the final, whatever the results of these two last matches were.
When Forthomme further ran away from Blomdahl (33-13) and De Backer kept Horn in balance (20-20), Andernos had a total of 53 points and nothing could go wrong anymore. The victory of Forthomme made the win even more beautiful. Martin Horn, who won by one point yesterday, making his last point after four misses, now beat De Backer 50-44 in 33 innings.