3-Cushion
MARIENBERG - The mission could not fail for Therese, because in all her Dutch three cushion championships so far she has never been defeated. Three sways in the air with her cue accompanied the twelfth Dutch title out of twelve, this Sunday afternoon, after a victory in the final over Karina Jetten: 30-19 in 31 innings. ''How wonderful to win the triple'', she showed her joy after she won the Dutch title, the world title and the European title in one year.
She had shown her huge supremacy only once, in the semi-final against Daisy Werdekker: 30-13 in 17, recording 1,765 on average. In all her other matches in the tournament in Mariënberg, Overijssel, the world and European champion her average fluctuated just below and just over one, enough to win all her matches with force majeure. The motivation, the 36-year-old Therese Klompenhouwer cannot deny, was not like in her first years at the Dutch championship. More than ever, the focus is on World Cup appearances and World championships, where she recently excelled against Orie Hida, Sruong Pheavy and in the World Cups against players who are not far from the world top. "I will continue chasing for titles, also in my homeland but if I want to develop further in the big events, that will be my main goal." Like recently in the Survival Masters in Seoul and the Lausanne Billard Masters.
''I didn't play such a good championship," she analyzed critically. ''That's mainly about my motivation, although I really wanted to win this title again, but I have in my mind that I can win lesser matches. I am happy that there is some opposition again. Karina Jetten has played a good tournament slightly over 0.800 on average. Daisy Werdekker is on stage, a 24 year young player with a future. The podium is completely different than we had last year. "
The prolonged champion also thinks in Dutch interests. ''We may receive an extra place for the European championship, which will be played in Turkey on 10, 11 and 12 February, 2020. But even more important is next year's World championship in the Netherlands. That's why it was good for players to finish in the top now. I think we can play with three Dutch girls at that next World championship." Therese herself skips the World Cup in Egypt at the end of this year. "My next big tournament is the European championship in Turkey."
The 48-year-old Karina Jetten seemed to be a dangerous contender in the run-up to the final. Roland Forthomme's girlfriend had a wonderful strong start with two matches just over one average, was even slightly better than Klompenhouwer for two rounds, but unfortunately, she was unable to maintain that high level. The quarter finals were a first signal: Therese won 30-9 in 25 innings against Anja Verbogt, Karina 30-15 in 38 against Jetty Beersma. The semi-finals were even more clear: Therese in 17 innings over Daisy Werdekker, Karina in 41 innings over Joke Martijn.
The final had a difficult start: Klompenhouwer led 4-3 in 10, 11-6 in 19 and 12-6 in 23, Jetten never gave the impression to come-back. Therese's run of 7 in the 26th inning, to a score of 24-8, was the final gap, which led to 30-19 in 31 (0.967/0.612).
Therese Klompenhouwer, 12 gold medals in 12 Dutch championships