BERLICUM - The rankings have been restored at the Jumbo Masters in the Beneluxtheater in Berlicum. The Dutch three-cushion championship goes into the final rounds on Saturday and Sunday with Dick Jaspers as the top favorite, Jean Paul de Bruijn as the title holder, Barry van Beers as the hero in the final pre-rounds, Dave Christiani and Raimond Burgman as players with the maximum scores in match points and Barry van Beers as best in average, scoring 1.953 over 3 matches ahead of Jaspers 1.836, Hofman 1.529 and Christiani 1.520. Missing for Saturday's knock-outs, that are played in rounds at one table, are Jean van Erp and Jeffrey Jorissen. The playing schedule is set for 12.30, 14.30, 16.30 and 18.30, followed by the semi-finals and final match on Sunday.
The matches for the quarter-finals in order are:
12.30: Raimond Burgman-Frans van Schaik
14.30: Glenn Hofman-Jean Paul de Bruijn
16.30: Dick Jaspers-Jack Wijnen
18.30: Dave Christiani-Barry van Beers.
The late evening of the final qualifying day went to a climax with the four leaders in the extremely thrilling group of death with two Brabant players, Jean van Erp and Barry van Beers and Hague-based Glenn Hofman and Jeffrey Jorissen. Barry van Beers turned the Masters upside down in the final evening session with a brilliant, super fast game against Jean van Erp: 3-0 win, 3.333 on average. The Brabant star, who started with a loss in this group stage, therefore qualified from Group B, while at the other table Glenn Hofman and Jeffrey Jorissen were still fighting for the second ticket. So then, after that 3-0 win, the crowd was waiting for the showdown in the Hofman-Jorissen match, two training buddies, who play together in the Hague team. And of whom Jorissen was eliminated at the time when Van Beers won the match against Van Erp and Glenn Hofman had to beat Jorissen to go on. That happened: Hofman won the first set 10-9 in 5, Jorissen the second 10-6 in 7, Hofman the third again 10-7 and 9, ran out 8-1 in the fourth and won 10-7 in 10, which even brought Glenn Hofman to the top of the ranking. That was all at the expense of Jean van Erp, the home favorite with his many fans. He entered the final day as the leader with four match points, but to his big disappointment dropped to third position after the sweep of Barry van Beers.
That winner stepped out of the arena with a big smile after his victory over Jean van Erp and had to do a little round to shake hands of fans. ''I played a flawless match,'' Van Beers said in his comments amid those fans and after his match which lasted half an hour at most. ''I couldn't wish better: going from the break with 7 and 9, making all the positions that could be made and finishing 3-0. I needed that to be sure of the place in the quarter-finals. And I honestly liked the atmosphere in the stands. I'm at my best when the crowd is cheering for my opponent.''
Dick Jaspers had made up for his unexpected poor start to the Masters with a loss against Frans van Schaik: first in that Group A already with a win over Kay de Zwart (3-0, 2.307) and on this Friday evening against Raymund Swertz 3-1, 1.888. The Dutch world number one later said in his candid interview with Ziggo Sport that he surely feels vulnerable in this set system to three set wins of 10. ''Actually, I can lose to anyone in such a system,'' Jaspers realized. He leaves in a few days for more than two weeks for three lucrative events in South Korea, but is eager to win the Masters first. ''My big ambition is to win championships and tournaments where something wonderful is at stake,'' Jaspers indicated. The Brabant star, though still number one in the world rankings, had first to relinquish his European title and later the world title to Dani Sánchez and Tayfun Tasdemir in 2022. ''Still, it has been a wonderful year, which I can hardly expect to repeat this year.'' For his place among the best eight, Jaspers had to deal with Raymund Swertz on Friday: after 2-0 in sets, Swertz came back with a set win in two innings, but immediately Jaspers responded with 9 from the break and 10-1 in three innings.
These are days of miracles and wonder for Jack Wijnen, a 60-year-old glorified pub player, as he qualified himself, from Dongen in Brabant. In one of his rare Masters participations, he won over Therese Klompenhouwer 3-1 on Friday afternoon. The result was that the women's world champion was eliminated and Jack Wijnen in this Group B unexpectedly and overjoyed went to the best eight at the Jumbo Masters. This is his third Masters, after the first one back in 1995 in De Blauwe Kei in Veghel, where in those days a car was awarded for a maximum run of 15. ''I just managed to qualify this year and did not expect so much.'' Nevertheless, the jovial Brabant player is among the top eight in the Netherlands this time. ,,We didn't have the worst draw, I was able to take advantage of that.''
Jack Wijnen, won the first two sets 10-3 in 4 and 10-7 in 11. Therese, who later said she had a weak start and tried to adjust the pace a bit, came back in the third with set win 10-7 in 14. When Wijnen then missed the break, Therese ran to a 4-0, but eventually relinquished the initiative again: 10-5 in 8 in the fourth: a 3-1 win for Wijnen. Raimond Burgman also won his last match in this group, beating Jerry Hermans 3-1 (0.942/0.764 on average). Burgman is the group winner with 1.263 ahead of Wijnen with 1.076. Therese just missed the 1 average (0.905). Jerry Hermans, last year's Grand Prix winner, could not reach his level. He finished without points and 0.893 on average, with the highest run in this group: 9.
Therese Klompenhouwer played her last Masters tournament, by the way, as she will concentrate more on the busier calendar with many international women's tournaments. The disappointing last Masters has a lot to do with an extremely busy month: Therese is moving to Blaricum with her girlfriend, is busy clearing out her previous house and, on top of that, plays two tournaments in Korea starting next week.
The most seasoned 'Zeeland billiard player' went on, the young promise was out after the third day. Jean Paul de Bruijn, defending champion, and Joey de Kok were executioners in this Group D in the decisive match to go on with Dave Christiani to the knock-outs. The weak starter in this tournament, Jean Paul de Bruijn with a loss over Christiani, closed the group on Friday afternoon against his pupil with a formidable match: 3-1, 2.059 average against 1.188.
Jean Paul de Bruijn thus advances to the next round, Joey de Kok missing his qualification. The young Zeeuw had one magnificent revival in the match, when he went out with 9 in the second set and won 10-5 in 2 innings. In the other sets, Jean Paul de Bruijn dominated, eager to win and make up for his poor start to the group. ''I started the Masters badly, for whatever reason,'' was his first comment. ''I had just 1 average over two games, so it had to be very much better. And fortunately I showed that against Joey, my student for years, whom I predict a bright future.'' The match had a flawless start with sets in 4, 2 and 3 innings (10-4, 5-10 and 10-1), for the last win De Bruijn had 9 more innings, which caused his average to drop slightly, but was still just over two.
So Jean Paul de Bruijn is again in the running for a win in the Masters, although he once again emphasized that Dick Jaspers, with his unprecedented class, is the big favorite. In the interview for Ziggo Sport, De Bruijn addressed his career ambitions. ''I completely mirror Raymond Ceulemans, my great example as a billiard player. I hope that he still lives a long time and dies in harness. And I hope the same myself. I can't do without billiards and want to compete at a high level for a long time to come.'' Dave Christiani and Adrie Demming fought a spirited battle in their final group match. Christiani had already qualified, Demming, who played his first Masters in 2014, was already eliminated. Demming won the first two sets, Christiani then took a 2-1 lead, but the 53-year-old Demming fought back to 2-2 in sets. The final win was for Christiani 10-3 in 4, averages 1.118 for Christiani, 1.091 for Demming.
Final ranking in group A:
1 Dick Jaspers 4-1,836-9
2 Frans van Schaik 4-1,040-9
3 Raymund Swertz 2-1,024-6
4 Kay de Zwart 2-1,116-6
Group B:
1 Glenn Hofman 4-1,529-7
2 Barry van Beers 4-1.953-6
3 Jean van Erp 4-1,596-5
4 Jeffrey Jorissen 0-1.294-7
Group C:
1 Raimond Burgman 6-1.263-7
2 Jack Wijnen 4-1.076-7
3 Therese Klompenhouwer 2-0.905-6
4 Jerry Hermans 0-0.893-6.
Group Poule D:
1 Dave Christiani 6-1.520-10
2 Jean Paul de Bruijn 4-1.243-7
3 Joey de Kok 2-0.975-9
4 Adrie Demming 0-0.884-5.
Barry van Beers, last night's hero in the match with Jean van Erp
Glenn Hofman was the better of his team mate Jeffrey Jorissen and finally won the group of death
Dave Christiani, unbeaten and one of the best players in the pre-rounds
Dick Jaspers had a poor start, is back in the Masters with two wonderful wins
Jack Wijnen, the revelation in the best eight
Jean Paul de Bruijn beat his pupil Joey de Kok in the last round and returns to defend his title