THE HAGUE - That he had beaten Dick Jaspers this Saturday, was a great news for Barry van Beers after the Grand Prix victory in The Hague. And that he was the better of Raimond Burgman in the final to win his second Grand Prix in his` career (40-31 in 26 innings) was a good reason for a little party. But at the end of the tournament, there was another wonderful news. ,,I will play the World Cups again next year'', the winner announced. ,,As far as it looks now, I will play them all with the help of personal sponsors.'' Barry van Beers, who turned 40 this year, wants to be back on stage. The 'Brabander' started his private billard shop at home not so long ago. There he can practice, give lessons and do some repairs. With his form was nothing wrong this year. ,,I ran into some bad guys, occasionally, who punished me with a quick attack.'' For example: Raimond Burgman in the league, who left him at 21-3 in three innings. And in the German league against Nikos Polychronopoulos, with a quick 26-4, but eventually Van Beers could play a draw.
,,I am not dissatisfied with my averages'', he concludes. ,,With more than 1.300 in the Netherlands and over 1.400 in Belgium I'm on a pretty good level.'' This weekend, in the Grand Prix in The Hague, he even did better with 1.618. The knock-out start against Kay de Zwart was a warm-up with 40-17 in 20 innings. The sequel was the sprint-à-deux with Dave Christiani, which was in balance throughout the match and ended in a draw (40-40 in 26). The shoot-out took three sessions: 3-3, 1-1 and finally a tight 1-0 for Van Beers. The most wonderful victory (,,like always when you can beat Jaspers'') was in the semi-finals in the Brabant encounter with the only Dutc world top player.
Barry van Beers took, facing Dick Jaspers, an advance on the win with a delicate run of fourteen, made another ten and finished with six: 40-31 in 24 innings. Again, for the fourth consecutive time, Jaspers didn't win a Grand Prix in his country for the fourth time in a row.
Raimond Burgman dealt in the other semi-final with the last Buffalo player: Jean van Erp, who could'nt match up with his opponent and lost 40-21 in 24 innings.
The finale had a difficult start, especially for Burgman, who looked a 23-17 backlog after 17 innings. The final stage was in Barry van Beers' favour, who first ran out to 36-30 and was not threatened at the end: 40-31. It was the second Grand Prix victory for Barry van Beers after his first in 2013 in Amsterdam, winning the final against Glenn Hoffman.
And yes, the Dutchman will enter the world of three cushion again next year. Bursa, Luxor, Porto, Ho Chi Minh, Guri, La Baule, Hurghada. ,,There are a few private sponsors who asked me to play the World Cups. That's a wonderful gesture, of coursel. It must have been three years ago that I played my last World Cup.''
Roland Uijtdewillegen (sixth in the ranking in The Hague) and Peter Vlaar (eighth) were the surprises of the tournament.
Barry van Beers, once again playing the World Cups next year
The final ranking of the Grand Prix in The Hague:
1 Barry van Beers 1.618-14
2 Raimond Burgman 1.449-10
3 Dick Jaspers 1.711-9
4 Jean van Erp 1.147-9
5 Jean Paul de Bruijn 1.427-10
6 Roland Uijtdewillegen 1.321-14
7 Dave Christiani 1.280-9
8 Peter Vlaar 0.982-7
9 Glenn Hofman 1.500-9
10 Jeffrey Jorissen 1.284-9
11 Jerry Hermans 1.102-8
12 Therese Klompenhouwer 1.086-9
13 Martien van der Spoel 1.062-8
14 Bert van Manen 1.057-7
15 Kay de Zwart 1.008-8
16 Ad Koorevaar 1.122-8.