SINT WILLEBRORD/SHARM EL SHEIKH - The phone is ringing and Dick Jaspers is on the line. It’s Saturday night around 10 o'clock and in the resort where Jaspers is staying even an hour later. The 58-year-old Dutch billiard player has won the World Cup three-cushion in Sharm El Sheikh with flying colors few hours earlier and sounds cheerful and upbeat. Like a top athlete who has given his already impressive career a new boost. ''I didn't really celebrate it’’, sounds like an excuse before. ’’You know how I am. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't really like to party and I live pretty sober, all for my sport.'' Because Jaspers' philosophy is: billiard players live twice as long in top sport. That’s why you also have to live twice as good and healthy. Dick Jaspers, despite that lifestyle in the latter days of his career, is doing sports and lives a healthy life. He does not, in foreign countries, take a taxi into town to shop or look around. When he doesn’t have to play billiards, he spends much of his time in his room, as cyclists do in major rounds. ''I haven't spent even five minutes in the sun here,'' he said at the end of his stay of 10 days on the Red Sea. ''All that could be stolen from me.''
He realizes, as a pro billiard player who travels around the world and earns a generous living from it, that he has to be careful of his body and his soul. ''Most athletes last about 10 to 20 years, we billiard players, have a career twice that long.''
Can you count for a moment? Dick Jaspers won his first World Cup in 1991 in Tokyo (with Marco Zanetti in the final), last Saturday, 32 years later, he won his last for the time being in Sharm El Sheikh. How long can a top billiard player last in these days and at this age with all that travelling, flying, jetlags, tournaments and matches for big money, so under great pressure. ''You have to look after yourself very well,'' Jaspers assures. ’’I am a professional, I take good care of myself, although it is not always easy. For a World Cup, I always try to be there two or three days in advance. Sometimes it happens, in some countries, because of jetlag, I can't sleep the first three nights. That's not the way I want. I want to start top fit, because it is mentally and physically very tough.''
Very nice, like Saturday, a tribute with the champions. But very soon, Dick Jaspers seeks the peace and quiet of his hotel room. ’’Tomorrow back home, with a pleasant feeling that I ended the year very successfully. Things were looking a bit down, but with those two victories in the World Cups in Veghel and Sharm El Sheikh and the overall win over whole season, this was a wonderful finish. How nice is that, that success, to quietly enjoy that.''
Dick Jaspers and the year of 2023. At the end of the cycle, back home after the week in Egypt, the Dutch top billiard player wants to make the balance. Because Jaspers knows the year has’nt been bad at all, that he has shown signs of decline, that new and talented youngsters are going to outstrip the old generation in the coming years. Things are moving that fast now.
Frits Bakker/Kozoom: I realize it’s quite strange, that you said: my year is good after all with those two World Cups. Your good colleague, Therese Klompenhouwer, already said: Dick hasn't left the top at all, you know. And let's be honest, Dick: you win the first World Cups last year and now two of the last three. You win the overall World Cup for the eighth time. Who can even approach that record?
Dick Jaspers: ’’Yes, of course, one year is not like the other. I actually didn't like the fact that I hadn't won a World Cup yet. But I made up for that in Veghel and Sharm El Sheikh. Looking back then, I have won major tournaments almost every year throughout my long career. My best year was 2008, with four World Cups in one year. But often, I won two World Cups in a year. My career has been very long and I have always been very constant.''
FB/Kozoom: But still, Dick Jaspers looked taunted, not satisfied with his year, having lost 1st place in the world rankings.
Dick Jaspers: ’’Okay, it may have looked that way, but actually, I haven't been away. And I played a lot of good matches before these World Cups in 2023. My highlight was the World Grand Prix in Wonju, Korea, with an incredible climax due to the long run-up with many preliminary rounds. I dare to call it the most tough tournament to win with such a complicated schedule, unpredictable 20-minute sets, 4 matches narrowly won, crawled through the eye of the needle with a super jackpot of 100,000 euros. Played under high stress for a week and a half.''
FB/Kozoom: Take a further look back at this supposedly slightly down year?
Dick Jaspers: ’’I finally won two World Cups with fantastic averages: Veghel 2.480, Sharm El Sheikh 2.130. The World Cup overall prolonged, which is the most prestigious award. Won the national Masters for the 22nd time, the Coupe d'Europe with FC Porto and a successful WCBS championship in Ankara, in which I played two matches of 5,000 average and 4,000 average, in 1 day.''
FB/Kozoom: How are you going into the next year, 2024?
Dick Jaspers: ’’With a lot of confidence, but every event I run into, is hard, there are many good players and nothing is as hard as playing well and especially consistently for a whole year. I like to win, but I can put things into perspective. If you have played wonderful matches, and you lose the final somewhat unhappily, how do you deal with that? I like to analyse, because luck and bad luck, so also winning and losing, are close together.''
FB/Kozoom: You have to deal with it mentally and also physically. How tough it gets at this stage of your career to travel to all those big events. The World Cup starts next year in Colombia and goes on and on in the world. How do you and colleagues cope with that?
Dick Jaspers: ’’We all do it in our own way. I travel with Eddy Merckx most of the time, we often go to tournaments together. We are a bit the same types in terms of lifestyle, in terms of eating in faraway countries. I think that, for example, Blomdahl, Zanetti, Merckx and I can still handle the high level, we prove that with the constantly high averages. So as long as we can do that, we handle the big efforts, the travelling well. As it looks now, we will play about five, six tournaments outside Europe again in the coming year. I am adjusting well to that. How long will we stay at the top? I can't predict it. We, talking about our generation, like to philosophise sometimes, with Torbjörn, with Marco, about past years. It's just the way it is with billiard players. We last twice as long, but we have to keep taking care of ourselves in the best possible way.''
FB/Kozoom: Finally, as a winner of the World Cup cycle, can you give us a short analysis of your rivals in these last World Cups?
Dick Jaspers, about the high ranked players in the World Cup cycle:
Torbjörn Blomdahl: ’’A great champion, a legend with such a big heart for billiards. I hope he continues for at least a few more years, because we really can't miss him yet. Anyway, I surely am a big fan of how he comments the matches together with Bert van Manen.''
Marco Zanetti: ’’A sensitive artist with a great penchant for perfection on billiards. I sometimes wonder how he thinks when he plays. I also think Marco is a great personality with a strong opinion on many billiard matters. I surely appreciate his efforts for better conditions in professional billiards. He is still an outspoken favorite for the final victory in every tournament.''
Eddy Merckx: , "Eddy is Eddy, always himself, modest, easy going, polite and a great sportsman, rightly feared everywhere. I travel to tournaments with him fairly often. It's always fun with Eddy.''
Jun Tae Kim: "Already very good, has flair and is learning fast. He still needs to play more precisely with certain positions, then he will be even better.''
Tolgahan Kiraz: ''A fresh, wonderful player, shining at the table. Truly a sportsman, a combative type and very correct. A jewel for the sport of billiards. I was happy for him that he did so well in Sharm El Sheikh and hope he will win more fine prizes.''
Myung Woo Cho: ''Very creative, funny guy and terribly good! I am curious to see how he handles the pressure as one of the world's biggest talents and players in the coming years.''
Glenn Hofman: ''So young still, but already quite experienced. And amazing what he performed in that whole week in Sharm El Sheikh with the pressure of all those qualifications. I am very happy for him and we share the respect for each other. I’m really proud of my compatriot.''
Tayfun Tasdemir: ’’Always super friendly, very sporty, neat and a class appearance. Definitely a great example for many. And if he really feels it, it's incredibly hard to win against him.''
Phuong Vinh Bao: ''We don't know that much about him yet, but what a nice, humble guy at the table, who works really hard for a nice result and never gives up. He will definitely go on to achieve great successes in the future after his first world title.''
Martin Horn: ''Nice, sporting colleague, strong billiard player, everything must be right with Martin. With his German 'Grundlichkeit', he can strike out superior. He plays strong tournaments every year. Very nice that Martin is always there. You have to be enormously careful when you play against him.''
Quyet Chien Tran: ''Figurehead of Vietnamese billiards, wonderful style with finesse and a familiar face. I like him, always nice and calm and unmissable at the international top.''
World Cup overall win Dick Jaspers:
1997, 1999, 2008, 2010, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2023.
The final score of the World Cup cycle in 2023:
- Dick Jaspers 232
- Jun Tae Kim 188
- Eddy Merckx 188
- Martin Horn 186
- Myung Woo Cho 160
- Torbjörn Blomdahl 162
- Haeng Jik Kim 160
- Quyet Chien Tran 158
- Marco Zanetti 144
- Tayfun Tasdemir 144
- Sameh Sidhom 124
- Jung Han Heo 106
Thank you for the interview, Dick Jaspers.
Pictures: Ton Smilde, Hervé Lacombe
Dick Jaspers in full focus
Dick Jaspers in his home land, winner in Veghel
Dick Jaspers, thanks for the interview