3-Cushion
OOSTERHOUT - The tone has been set for the World championship in Japan in two weeks. Therese Klompenhouwer flattend her way to a new Dutch title in ladies three cushion this afternoon in Oosterhout with a record match in the final against Karina Jetten: 30-12 in 13 innings. And after three days of the tournament, we can say: Therese was the very best, she toyed her opponents and then tormented them.
Both in the final match of the preliminaries and in the final she showed to be the top dog in the nationals. And there's no doubt that she has send a warning to Japan for the World championship. Therese is ready for the count down, for knocking on heaven's door in Japan. That's the next mission of the champion.
The Dutch title was never in danger. Karina Jetten? Monique van Hamond? They played some nice matches, of course, with averages around one, but they could not deal at all with Therese in the two final days.
,,I felt mentally so strong,'' said the now five-time champion after the final. ,,My semifinal against Sylvia Eckel was not good and I had to recharge for the final. I did it with my best match ever. Against Karina (Jetten) I felt super, it was such a wonderful game. I even could have finished the 30 points in eleven innings. I needed eight points to finish, made a seven and missed the matchpoint in a double round the table shot, but I played a little too short.''
With the title, two matches over two average (2.307 and 2.142) Klompenhouwer has shown again progression in her game. ,,In the Dutch league, I have not played that good so far. But in this Dutch championship I showed that I am ready for the World championship. There is my focus now, it's there that I want it to happen, the highlight of my career.''
The final match in the Dutch got his kick off after five innings: Klompenhouwer started with 6, made three misses and then continued with 3, 2, 5, 4, 0, 2, 7, 0 and 1. Karina Jetten, who had reached the final by a 30-18 win against Monique van Hamond in 28 innings, made a poor 12 caroms, still good for nearly one average.
Therese played 1.216 in the final stage of the tournament and 1.064 overall. Karina Jetten was second with 0.702 in the final rounds.
The final ranking:
1 Therese Klompenhouwer 1.064
2 Karina Jetten 0.683
3 Monique van Hamond 0.591
and Sylvia Eckel 0.451
5, 6, 7 and 8:
Gerrie Geelen 0.554
Anja Wines 0.482
Loes Dansik 0.451
Hanny Hultermans 0.343.