VEGHEL - The career of Jeffrey Jorissen, billiard player from The Hague, has been speeding up in a short time. The 35-year-old Dutchman made a spectacular start at the World Cup in Veghel this Monday afternoon in a match which he finished with a final 16 (30 in 13 innings). Two weeks ago he also played a 21 run towards the end in a league match. Jorrissen, son of a café owner, who once was a promising young football player, has made big steps in three cushion in the last two years. The new love in his life, Dutch well known billiard player Jos Bonger's daughter, certainly is one of the main reasons. "I don't feel on a pink cloud, but really I feel very relaxed," Jorissen confessed between two matches.
Wesley de Jaeger from Belgium, one year older than Jeffrey Jorissen, also met his new love. She was a good friend of Peter Ceulemans' wife. "We bought a house together, completely rebuilt it, and we married on August 17," Wesley told after playing the match of his life on Monday evening: 30-8 in 7 innings against German Hakan Celik, by far the best match on this second World Cup day. And certainly also inspired by his new love.
Wesley de Jaeger was already a big talent when he was just 20. ''I didn't work at a certain moment and I was able to play World Cups thanks to a sponsor. My best tournament was in Corfu, where I made it to the quarterfinals. I was number 17 on the World Cup ranking that year, but then I went to work again and I slowly dropped on the ranking." He now works as a warehouse manager in the Antwerp port. ''Due to our house renovation, I could not practice this summer. But now I am fully back in training again. The result is amazing: I haven't played such a match in my entire life." The quick start with 2-7-0-9 against his German opponent brought him to 18-4 in four innings and after a finish with 6-3-3 on a spacious 30-8.
The World Cup in the Brabant billiard enclave, where ticket requests are pouring in for the final days, entered the second day of the pre-rounds with a significant increase of the level. Jeffrey Jorissen was not only a striking winner. The young, 17-year-old Frenchman Nathan Duriez made a spectacular come-back playing his countryman and former junior world champion Adrien Tachoire with runs of 8 and 10 in his last two innings. The entrance of more and more known players werd a new injection to the World Cup, which made a flashy start. Harry Mathijssen, with Ad Smout the organizer, is waiting for crowded stands in the last three days. "We are ready for a madhouse," he made an assessment in between. ''On Thursday we have 50 tickets available for Jean Erp's fan club, who lives only a few kilometres away from the arena. They will create a big ambiance."
Jeffrey Jorissen, teammate of Jean van Erp in the Dutch premier league, offered the spectators a lovely fortaste on Monday. The Hague man, who played football until his sixteenth, soon switched to billiards in his grandfather's café and played with Raymond Ceulemans among others on the team in those years. ''My level actually grew step by step, but in recent years I was going very fast. I get more and more controle over the game, most of all how to play position. Building up high runs is going well these days." The final sixteen-run, in the match against Kay de Zwart, was one of the highlights of the first days in the World Cup. "The score was 14-14, I saw that my opponent was already looking for his cigarettes to go into the break, but with my 16, the match was over and there was no break anymore."
In the final and decisive evening sessions, Harrie van de Ven had to put up a hard fight for a tight win over Alexander Weiss (30-25 in 36). Brian Knudsen ran out with a 15 and beat the Turk Serdar Bas 30-26 in 14. French talent Maxime Panaia went down against Jose Maria Mas: 30-23 in 21. In the fight between two routinined players, Ivo Gazdos was a way too strong for Michael Nilsson: 30-18 in 22. Nathan Duriez, the revelation, reached his his third day after the victory over Portuguese Sousa 30-20 in 43.
Peter De Backer recovered from a tough start with a win against Joey de Kok (30-14 in 21), to still claim the group win. Herbert Szivacz, one of the best starters of the day, eliminated Huub Wilkowski in the final part, 30-27 in 30. Dave Christiani just escaped from Portuguese Soares (30-28 in 29) and Ronny Lindemann, who looked far from well at the table due to a cold, still finished as the group winner.
Tom Löwe and Jun-Tae Kim, the Korean who twice won silver at a junior World Championship, remained unbeaten in the top half. And Jeffrey Jorissen switched off the lights being cheered by his Hague fans after having scored the last carom of the evening. Therefore, with a 3-run from the spots, he forced a costly draw against Greek Kostas Atanatos, who this year finished second in a Grand Prix in his country behind the winner Filippos Kasidokostas. ,,This win makes me five years older'', Jeffrey Jorissen sighed leaving the building in the later hours.
The ranking on the second day:
1 Brian Knudsen 4-2,000-15
2 Herbert Szivacz 4-1,463-8
3 Tom Löwe 4-1,463-7
4 Jose Maria Mas 4-1.395-5
5 Wesley de Jaeger 4-1,304-9
6 Ronny Lindemann 4-1,200-7
7 Harrie van de Ven 4-1.132-7
8 Jun-Tae Kim 4-1,090-6
9 Vangelis Moulos 4-1.090-6
10 Dave Christiani 4-1,034-6
11 Jeffrey Jorissen 3-1.578-16
12 Nathan Duriez 3-0,875-10
13 Peter De Backer 2-1,152-7
14 Ivo Gazdos 2-1,081-7
15 Mikael Devogelaere 2-1,080-11
16 Muhammed Cavusoglu 2-0,697-10
Wesley de Jaeger in front of the score board after his best match ever
Jeffrey Jorissen with his new love, Kim Bongers, daughter of top player Jos Bongers
Nathan Duriez, revelation at the World Cup, reached his third day
Harrie van de Ven went on as one of the 3 Dutch players on the second day