3-Cushion
LOMMEL - Three of four groups completed, two days of preliminaries done and only one group left. Tonight (start off at 18.00) Eddy Merckx, Jef Philipoom, Francis Forton and Thomas Broux battle for two last places in the quarterfinals of the Superprestige. Frédéric Caudron (6 match points, 2.105) and Peter Ceulemans (4 points, 1.909) were the most remarkable players so far. The main players and contenders for victory managed to qualify, Steven van Acker, one of the outside favourites, surprised in the group with Caudron with a second place.
Peter Ceulemans shone in two sparkling matches last night (40 in 19 and 40 in 14 innings) and excelled with high runs. He started his match against Martin Spoormans with thirteen from the break and made another sixteen (!) in his last innings.
Right after his first evening match (against Kurt Ceulemans), Peter said: ,,We ’Ceulemansen’ (Raymond, the grandpa, Kurt, the uncle, Koen, his father, Peter himself and Bart, his younger brother) don’t like to play against each other. Winning the game doesn’t give the same fun as when you defeat another player. And usually, when we face each other, the matches are not the best.’’
Peter, for a few years the best of the Ceulemans dynasty in all competitions, beat Kurt, the brother of his father Koen, this time in a high level match. Peter had a flawless start and took the lead with runs of nine and six. Kurt, besides player in this Superprestige also speaker and entertainer, was far behind at the end and lost 40-19 in 19 innings.
Martin Spoormans, the old and vulpine veteran, showed something of his never fading hunger for success in the first round when he defeated Eddy Leppens: 40-33 in 34 innings.
Peter Ceulemans could immediately show his great form after a long, non playing summer. ,,I decided to make a long stop this summer,'' he explains. ,,Two weeks on holiday to Spain with Bettina, little Jack and friends. In four weeks, I really didn’t see a billiard table. Playing in New York was an option, but eventually I decided to not go there.''
The battery is fully charged again: ,,I started my practicing only at the end of July. Not even hard practice, not every day a few hours, only a few times a week. And I feel very good now, I'm looking forward to the new start.''
For his second evening match, Peter Ceulemans faced Martin Spoormans, who told his opponents one of his great anecdotes before the match: ,,I already played a final match for the Belgian championship against Raymond Ceulemans when Peter was still in his mother’s womb.’’
But little children are growing up, Martin.
Tonight, in the second round of the third day, Spoormans (63 years of age), could only watch from his chair how he was swept from the table by the more than thirty years younger Peter Ceulemans (32). The young man shone with two wonderful runs (thirteen from the break, sixteen near the finish) and played a superior match: 40-14 in 14.
Martin Spoormans has a long history as a billiard player, Peter Ceulemans has a long future ahead. The way he’s playing now, in this Superprestige, he only seems to grow better and better. He was the man of the high run, the position playing, of the flawless structure of his runs. The tune for the run of ten and more (’Jabbadabbedoeeee’) sounded three times for him in the evening sessions.
He played the shortest match so far (14 innings), the highest runs, so, who dares to say that Peter Ceulemans is not a favorite for the title...
,,How typical huh,'' he said. ,,At the end of a long year, I’m always tired of playing billiards. Last year, I practiced very hard for the new start, but I was playing very poorly in the Superprestige. This time, I took it a bit easier. Playing runs in practice, but not really a good form. And now, I feel great, as it should be actually.’’
The thing that left for Martin Spoormans were his stories: about his former Superprestiges, for instance. ,,I once played the final here against Ludo Dielis, in 1989. But I stopped playing for many years. My father died when he was fifty. And then I said: when I turn fifty, I will stop playing billiards. And I did it: I stopped and didn’t play for seven years. But then I picked it up again.''
Martin Spoormans is still there, close to the top in Belgium, with varying success. With his victory over Eddy Leppens, earlier in the evening, he showed himself a dangerous opponent again. Peter Ceulemans was a bridge too far.
Eddy Leppens, strongly cheered by his own audience, took the match against Kurt Ceulemans with a sprint finish, 40-35 in 29 innings. Therefore, he kept his chance for a place in the quarter, which he realized in the last evening session with a win against Peter Ceulemans.
The home player and organizer, who has some problems to keep his focus on the table, defeated Ceulemans in the last game 40-25 in 22 innings.
Peter Ceulemans and Eddy Leppens joined the four players who previously qualified. Ceulemans couldn’t match with Caudron’s overall average in his group matches (2.105), but the 1.909 was an excellent second-ranking of six players so far. In the top three of best matches, Ceulemans leads with a match average of 2.857 ahead of Frédéric Caudron 2.500 and 2.105.
Peter Ceulemans was the most productive high run-player with sixteen, thirteen and ten. Davy van Havere and Roland Forthomme both scored ten.
The match points and averages of the seeded players:
1 Frédéric Caudron, 6 match points, 2.105
2 Forthomme, 6-1.379
3 Peter Ceulemans 4-1.909
4 Peter De Backer 4-1.520
5 Eddy Leppens 4-1.313
6 Steven van Acker 4-1.154