3-Cushion
SCHILTIGHEIM - Two players finishing pretty far below one average, Jef Philipoom who played just over one and only Jérôme Barbeillon who got som control over the balls at the end of his match in the arena Agipi. The start of the Agipi Masters certainly wasn't played on a high level. ,,It was more a holiday on ice show'', said Eddy Leppens, who's playing in the second session of the day and watched the first matches in the tribunes.
It is not a new phenomenon of course: new cloths at the start of a tournament. The players who require a rapid adjustment. Glenn Hofman played a very bad match and couldn't find his feeling during 51 innings. He lost without any chance: 50-37. Jérôme Barbeillen and Jef Philipoom kept each other in balance until 40 caroms, then the Frenchman attacked with success to 50-43 and 1.316 average.
He took his first victory in two years in the Agipi Masters and can confidently look forward to his next match, which he will play against Ryuuji Umeda later this evening. The Japanese was not on his best, despite his win against Hoffman, but took his opportunity at the right moment.
The Dutchman has already an irregular form for several weeks and played against Umeda one of his most boring matches for a long time. ,,We are playing, maybe, in the worst group of these preliminaries'', he concluded. ,,So it's up to myself if I can not qualify here. Then I need to conclude: I still have to learn a lot.''