3-Cushion
When Jérémy Bury last night finished a match of fifty points in thirteen innings, the Agipi arena was cheering for him for minutes. It was a French record, the young Frenchman never had played such a fantastic match and his audience showed his great admiration.
When Eddy Merckx this afternoon finished a match of fifty points in fifteen innings, nobody was impressed by the performance. It was just a good game, one of many good matches the Belgian is playing lately, but nothing special. Because nothing seems special to Eddy Merckx. He scores, the look is always imperturbable, he makes points with incredible regularity, but otherwise? ,,I didn't make a run of ten in five matches here'', he said after his match with a smile on his face.
Whatis really special about Merckx? Perhaps it is the typical, sometimes very fast stroke, the great arsenal of solutions for difficult positions, the technique, the fighting spirit, the will to belong to the best players in the world.
He will rarely celebrate a victory exuberant, but this week, after his return from Trabzon, there was some time for a little party. ,,It actually came along with my move to my new house. And we had that night a few Duvels, some Belgian beers. We were in a cheerful mood and were going to play billiard on my new table. We played five cushions. At one point I said: I can't miss this ball. My friend said, then I must put it on the video.''
The outcome was this week to be seen on facebook: a curious carom with a laughing Eddy Merckx in the background. ,,Not that I often do it, playing billiard with a few Duvels, but this time I thought we could do it, right?''
Today he showed his form once again in Agipi. Merckx defeated Nikos Polychronopoulos in a match with almost only runs between five and nine. He attacked early in the match, in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning, had a lead with 35-26 in nine, had just a slight hesitation, but finished with seven (50-35 in 15).
Torbjörn Blomdahl played his first match in this group, beating Haeng Jik Kim. It was not the high level as at the other table, but the Swede excelled in reliability, after a start with 23 points in eleven innings.
The young Korean was not in the match and ended up with 27 points in 28 innings. Blomdahl grew towards the end to a higher level and excelled especially with a bankshot at three points of the finish.
Blomdahl has to be on his top on Sunday, today he meets Polychronopoulos in his second match. Tomorrow he plays against Caudron and Merckx in the final phase.