3-Cushion
KAPELLE - With a beautiful finish, in front of the audience in De Vroone in Kapelle, Frans van Kuijk held his team in the race on the first day of the final matches between Van Donge en De Roo and Crystal Kelly in the team championship of the Netherlands. The first session ended up to 2-2, Martin Horn won his match against Raimond Burgman, Frans van Kuijk beat Torbjörn Blomdahl for Crystal Kelly.
Martin Horn (Van Donge) had a marvellous start and built up a big lead against Burgman. Frans van Kuijk (Crystal Kelly) and Torbjörn Blomdahl kept each other in balance on their way to the finish line. The Swede missed twice a matchbal, then his opponent devoured him with a small run of two in the 31st inning: 50-49.
The score was again in balace after Martin Horn won his match, although the German had a tough finish after a superb start. He was leading 40-17 after a run of eight in the sixteenth inning, but still needed 39 innings to end the match at 50-45.
,,I got some troubles with the material after the middle of the match'', said Horn, who had showed his wonderful technique in the first part of the match. ,,Then I saw Raimond Burgman coming closer, so the match ended with a lot of tension for me. I had to win, because Torbjörn lost on the other table.''
Martin Horn still had a gap of five points over the finish line. Frans van Kuijk and Torbjörn Blomdahl remained in each other's slipstream until the finish. Frans van Kuijk, who's playing no more international tournaments for many years, still kept control over his pressure and won the match against one of the worlds best layers. He held his nerves on a crucial score of 50-48 and finished with two.