TURNHOUT – The Belgian team league leader, Biljart Express, narrowly escaped defeat this week with a 5-3 victory in Bruges. Eddy Merckx secured the win with a draw against Henk Blauwblomme, making it 3-5 for Biljart Express at the finish. The hunt for the title contender is shaping up to be extremely interesting. Three teams, Mister 100, Herstalien, and T’s Place, played one match less and are four match points down. Herstalien cruised to a 6-2 victory against Op de Meir on Monday, with Roland Forthomme winning the overall match. The leading player defeated Jef Philipoom by a single point: 40-39 in 25 innings, thanks in part to a run of 11.

Biljart Express secured victorie in Bruges with Dutchmen Frans van Kuyk and Gerwin Valentijn, defeating Koen Saver (40-35 in 26) and Manuel Torres (40-35 in 27). Peter Mostrey recorded a strong victory over Guy van Litsenborg, 40-23 in 26 innings. The Bruges team, which ultimately saw Henk Blauwblomme draw with Eddy Merckx, showed top form at home. The team finished with excellent averages: 1.666, 1.346, 1.296, and 1.538, but unfortunately for the home team, these averages didn't yield any match points. As a result, the Bruges team remains in the bottom of the table. Only BC De Ploeg and Mister 100 2 are in a worse position.

Among the three teams chasing Biljart Express, Mister 100 was the all-time winner in its home match against Kortrijk. Bart Ceulemans, who seems to be regaining somewhat of his form, was the best winner with 40 in 19 innings against Frédéric Beghin. Peter Ceulemans defeated Ronny Brants, the Belgian championship's stuntman, 40-21 in 26 innings. Kurt Ceulemans won 40-39 in 34 innings, and Jerry Hermans 40-23 in 32 innings. For Herstalien, besides Roland Forthomme, Thomas Broux and Danny Boutet were the winners at the other tables, defeating Barry van Beers and Roland Uijtdewillegen in 23 and 30 innings. Wesley de Jaeger scored the only win for his team.

BC T's Place dominated De Ploeg with impressive scores at all tables. Peter De Backer was the excellent leader, defeating Dustin Jäschke 40-23 in 23 innings. Only Huub Wilkowski lost to Johan Claessen 40-36 in 26 innings. BC Zevenbergen closed the gap slightly with a 5-3 victory over Mister 100 2. Tom Persyn and Bart van Hove drew in 28 innings.

De Witte Molen plays a home game against De Leug tonight, Thursday.

The standings:

Biljart Express 14-23
Mister 100 13-19
Herstalien 13-19
T’s Place PDB 13-19
Op de Meir 13-18
De Leug 12-13
De Witte Molen 12-11
Zevenbergen 13-11
Kortrijkse 14-8
Brugse 13-7
De Ploeg 13-4
Mister 100 2 13-4