Who is that red curly man on the mike?

LOMMEL - The playing hall in the Adelberg looks very chic, as always, the VIP tables are a bit empty for the moment, the Superprestige 2013 is about to begin with four players in the first heat. Familiar faces in the stands. And behind the scenes, with people that has worked very hard again, especially in the days prior to the tournament.

But who is that red curly man on the mike? Definitely a connoisseur, a well known friend of the players. With lots of humor and improvisation, no doubt about that. And enjoying the audience with some short interviews just before the start of the matches.
Maybe we recognize the voice, from tv perhaps... Ceulemans a look? Well, judge for yourself.

Roland Forthomme and Peter De Backer, who played the 2010 final against each other (won by Forthomme), started off the Superprestige this afternoon, with a win in the first session of the preliminaries.
The tournament in Adelberg, Lommel, organized under the banner of the BTS, has been spread over six days and ends on Friday.

Today, two groups play for four places in the quarters, with Roland Forthomme leading the first group in the afternoon and Frédéric Caudron the other in the evening.
Tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday are the final, decisive groups of four for reaching the quarterfinals.

Roland Forthomme took a first stab at a place in next round. The triple winner since 2005 defeated Ronny Daniels with intermediate scores of 20-7 in 11 innings, 28-12 in 16 and 37-16 in 24 with 40-20 in 25 innings (1.600/0.720).

The favorite for the group win left no doubt about who was the best: he could not shine with high runs (5 was his best), but with his stunning stroke technique he left his opponent far behind. Ronny Daniels had an unconvincing start and didn’t feel the table at all.
Peter De Backer seemed to be never in danger at the other table after he attacked to 16-8 in 16 innings. His opponent, Pascal Claus, who played himself in the Belgian top sixteen last year, was already knocked down in the first innings by the strong tactical playing of De Backer scoring.

With intermediate scores of 16-8 (16 innings), 24-14 (24) and 33-26 (29) the matches was definitely decided. De Backer, surprisingly cup winner in Belgium this year, made his last point in the 33rd inning and triumphed 40-27 (1.212/0.818).

The group stage continues this afternoon, in the evening session Frédéric Caudron, Davy van Havere, Steven van Acker and Frank de Groof are coming in action in the second group of the preliminaries.