ANDERNOS - The Andernos team finished in the lead in Group B of the French team competition. The regular run-up to the Final Four concluded for six of the eight teams last Thursday night. Andernos won the home match over Blois by the maximum score 8-0 to finish as the number one, while the Blois team came second and will join the Final Four. The other two teams are Soissons and Saint Quentin. The first matches in the finals in the weekend of 31 May are Soissons-Blois and Andernos-Saint Quentin (Zanetti-Jaspers).
Andernos lost the outward game in Blois Doozy 5-3, this Thursday in the decisive match for the lead, the team led by Marco Zanetti took a resounding revenge. The Italian leader himself won 40-24 against Glenn Hofman after a final 12 run in the 14th inning. Roland Forthomme completed the success by winning against Tolgahan Kiraz 40-37 in 27. In the two French matches, Gwendal Maréchal was the better of Adrien Tachoire 40-34 in 33 and Jérôme Barbeillon shone against Maxime Panaia among others with a 13 run and won 40-28 in 19. Andernos had started the competition with two lost matches, but still finished on top. Andernos averaged 1.720 in his last match!
Albert ended the competition in this group with a draw against Colmar and was therefore eliminated. Ruben Legazpi was the outstanding leader for Colmar with a win over Peter Ceulemans: 40-20 in 15. Sergio Jimenez won the other match at the high positions against Jef Philipoom 40-30 in 26 and the best run of this round: 15. Albert's two wins came in the name of Cédric Melnytschenko and Thierry Roxo in 33 and 32 innings against Jean Haby and Jerome Riotto.
Soissons closed the competition in Group A with an 8-0 win over Saint Quentin. Both teams are qualified for the Final Four. Jérémy Bury triumphed in the last evening game against Dick Jaspers 40-36 in 25 after, for Soissons, Eddy Merckx earlier had been successful against Johan Loncelle (40-29 in 19) and Pierre Soumagne and Mikael Devogelaere had secured French wins against Nathan and Tangui Duriez in 25 and 40 innings. The final match in this group will be played today (Friday) between Intermarché and Douarnenez, the two teams finishing 3 and 4.
Marco Zanetti led his team to a wonderful 8-0 victory
Sergio Jimenez, great win against Jef Philipoom