3-Cushion
ZUNDERT - The Belgians Roland Forthomme, Eddy Leppens and Frédéric Caudron and the Dutchman Raimond Burgman will play the semifinals of the Christmas tournament tomorrow. That promises a lot of spectacle, with Forthomme as the local hero, Leppens in a great form, Caudron as the defending champion and big favorite and Burgman as the last Dutchman in the event.
The great surprise was the elimination of Eddy Merckx by Roland Forthomme tonight. The Belgian clash was decided by a stronger final shot of Forthomme, who took a lead after 40-36 and then finished 50-42 in 33 innings.
The Belgian, who's playing for Snellen, then enjoyed the huge applause from his own audience. ,,I'am obviously a bit lucky with so many great fans'', he said. ,,So let's hope that the are supporting me again tomorrow.''
Raimond Burgman didn't have the best start against Martin Spoormans (10 in 14 innings) his opponent was leading 21-10, but the Belgian lost the match after the break. ,,I wonder what happened,'' Spoormans laughed after the match. ,,But the Burgman before and after the break were two totally different players. It looked as if he had taken something special ...''
Burgman won the match 50-45 in 37 innings.
Tomorrow at 13.00 Forthomme plays in the semis against Leppens, Caudron meets Burgman.