RIJSBERGEN - The fourth round in the Dutch premier league shows a battle of brothers, the debut of Joris van ‘t Zelfden, the return of Jérémy Bury, the absence of Dick Jaspers for his team, as well as Eddy Merckx and Jean Paul de Bruijn playing with their team in Denmark league. Team Babbelz, captained by Frédéric Caudron, is defending the top position, four chasers are only 1 match point down. The leaders play an away match against Bousema, where Jorissen meets Caudron and the two Turks, Gökhan Salman and Savas Bulut face each other.
Two brothers from Brabant are not facing each other in Zundert, but will meet with their teams. Rik van Beers plays for home club Zundert, Barry van Beers for RCN Nieuwegein. Rik, who is 45, is playing for Zundert for his seventh year, Barry (48) has played there for ten years. ’’Always special to come there,‘’ Barry confesses. ’’I had wonderful years there and have met my wife Rinske there for the first time.‘’
Barry and Rik grew up in Bladel in a family with another brother, Roel, who is 43 and the youngest of the three. ‘’My father Jac (76 now) was a fanatic billiard player, we got it from him,‘’ Barry says. ’’At some point he built a place in his house and put a billiard table there. We were about 13 to 15 when we started playing there ourselves.’’
Rik, who still lives at home with his father (mother died this year) is less fanatical than Barry. ‘’He keeps it to his team in Zundert and goes for a training with friends once a week at most.‘’ Barry has made a billiard career with playing, sales and teaching other players and plays competition in the Netherlands, Belgium and Grand Prix tournaments.
Zundert's home team had a smooth start, but went down heavily last week. The home match against Nieuwegein can keep the team in the sub-top of the rankings. Sergei Jimenez is the leader and meets Dave Christiani, Sam van Etten meets Barry van Beers, Rik van Beers plays Gerwin Valentijn and Francis Forton against Henk Blauwblomme.
Team Babbelz plays with Caudron, Bulut, Van Havere and Wijnen against Bousema. Team Eekhoorn's line-up with a Dutchman, a Belgian, a Greek and a Spaniard faces J&F Auto's, the team from The Hague looking for a first or even two match points in the fourth round.
The match between Cues&Darts and Paperclip is interesting for the positions in the sub-top. Paperclip, without Jaspers, has Jérémy Bury coming over from France. The Frenchman was also active in the premier league in earlier years: he made his debut in the Netherlands with Van Donge&De Roo, where Richard Bitalis, Christ van der Smissen and Barry van Beers also played at that time. Bury will play with Paperclip on Sunday against Glenn Hofman, the Cues&Darts frontman.
For Dallinga, Joris van ‘t Zelfden will make his debut in the premier league in his home Zeeland. The young talent will face Paul Wallerand in the match between Dallinga and De Biljartacademie. The Zeeland team has 2 match points, the Limburg team 1 point and are in the lower regions for now.
The brothers in their young years with mother Hanny: Rik, left, and Barry, right
The matches for the fourth round in the Kozoom league, Sunday from 1pm:
SIS/Vervoort-Aarsbouw/Domicilie
Jean van Erp-Turgay Orak
Raimond Burgman-Ronny Brants
Raymund Swertz-Tom Persyn
Harrie van de Ven-Wesley de Jaeger
Team Eekhoorn-J&F Auto’s Jorissen
Nick Polychronopoulos-Murat Gökmen
Peter Ceulemans-Kay de Zwart
Frans van Kuyk-Paul Bruijstens
Jose Maria Mas-Herman van Daalen
STZ Zundert-RCN Nieuwegein
Sergei Jimenez-Dave Christiani
Sam van Etten-Barry van Beers
Rik van Beers-Gerwin Valentijn
Francis Forton-Henk Blauwblomme
Bousema-JBSCues.nl-Team Babbelz
Jeffrey Jorissen-Frédéric Caudron
Gökhan Salman-Savas Bulut
Johan Loncelle-Davy van Havere
Frans van Schaik-Jack Wijnen
Cues&Darts/Xtreme-Paperclip
Glenn Hofman-Jérémy Bury
Jef Philipoom-Anno de Kleine
Huub Wilkowski-Dan Breur
Therese Klompenhouwer-Peter van Lieshout
Dallinga.com-De Biljartacademie
Steven van Acker-Roland Forthomme
Peter De Backer-Danny Boutet
Joris van ’t Zelfden-Paul Wallerand
Berry Dallinga-Mathy Monnissen