ANDERNOS - Without two of their key players, Marco Zanetti and Gwendal Maréchal at Andernos, the Andernos and Albert teams drew 4-4 on the 4th match day in the French team competition. The draw keeps the Andernos team on top of Group A and gives a good prospect of finishing in the top two. Albert's team need a clean sheet in their last two matches if they want to qualify for the Final Four.
Bernard Baudoin and Thibaut Espada, who had to replace the world's two top 25 players, kept hopes alive in the first session by keeping Cédric Melnytschenko and Thierry Roxo level until two-thirds of the end: 24-24 in 19 and 26-26. Melnytschenko then stepped up a gear and beat Baudoin 40-32 in 31. Roxo beat Espada 40-32 in 38. Rétro Albertin led 4-0 at half-time and looked on track to win for the first time in the regular season in the Gironde. That mission fell to Peter Ceulemans and Jef Philipoom, who faced Roland Forthomme and Jérôme Barbeillon. The start of the second session was hopeful for the home team, with Jérôme Barbeillon launching a 2-6-1-8-4 run. At the break, the Andernos player led 21-3 in 5. At the other table, Forthomme led against Ceulemans 14-2 in 5.
Then it was briefly the turn of Peter Ceulemans, the Belgian player ranked 21st in the world, to catch up and lead 24-21 in 16. Jérôme Barbeillon led 33-9 in 15 against Philipoom. Roland Forthomme redoubled his efforts with 3-0-8-4-0-4, beating his future partner from Viersen (Belgian team) 40-27 in 22. Jérôme Barbeillon finished in 27 innings, Jef Philipoom lagging behind on 16. The Albert player scored a 7 in the subsequent innings.
Andernos: average 1,220
Albert: average 1,101
Andernos retained its unbeaten record in Group A and is now on 7 points in the standings with Soissons on 4 points. Albert is on 3 and Courbevoie on 0.