NEW YORK - The two heavyweights of the Open Verhoeven in New York will compete for the trophy and the honor in the Carom Cafe. Eddy Merckx and Torbjörn Blomdahl beat the two remaining competitors, the numbers three and four Frédéric Caudron and Dick Jaspers in the fifth round.
The Belgian champion and the Swede are unbeaten and lead the ranking with ten match points. They pitched themselves into the battle for the overall win with great performances in the final round.
Caudron is out with six points, Jaspers has only four out of five: both players are therefore eliminated for the final victory. Blomdahl averaged 2.173 over fif matches, Merckx 1.923.
Eddy Merckx left no doubt who was the best in the Belgian fight with Caudron. He took a big lead on a 29-17 score, when he attacked with a run of ten. Caudron answered with a marvelous 14, but could'n mount a huge comeback: in the next inning Merckx finished at 39-31, taking his revenge for last year's final match at Carom Café.
Torbjörn Blomdahl had a better start than Jaspers: the Dutchman catche up with a ten-run to 26-25. In the twelfth, Blomdahl ran with a 9 to 34-26, in the sixteenth he finished and highlighted his win at 40-35.
Blomdahl plays against Caudron in the sixth round, Merckx against Jaspers. The final match is the battle for gold: Blomdahl-Merckx.
Alexander Salazar picked up his first victory against Vinh The Li (40-28 in 25) and Huberney Catano climbs to fifth position by defeating Sameh Sidhom: 40-20 in 17.