Frédéric Caudron has won the annual handicap tournament in Emblem, this 15th edition again organized by the well known club Op De Meir. The world nr. 1 didn't have an easy path to the tournament win: not only did he play to 60 (others to 50 or 42), he also faced the strongest possible opposition in the semifinal and final.
Caudron opened with a comfortable win over Mathieu Vlerick: 60 - 28 in 29. In the second round, he faced Dutchman Jeffrey van Nijnatten, who had recently made a strong impression in the Dutch Grand Prix in Vlaardingen. Van Nijnatten, who played to 50 points, must have been pleased with his average (exactly 2.000), but it was not enough. Caudron won the match 60-40 in 20 innings.
The high point of the tournament came in round three, with Luc van Stappen as Caudron's opponent. The match took only 15 innings (60-13) and equaled the unofficial world record to 60 points. We rarely see 60 point games these days, and the last "60 in 15" dates back to 1996. Blomdahl then beat Ceulemans in New York, 60-31, fifteen innings for Blomdahl, fourteen for Ceulemans.
Caudron went from start to finish like this: 0-16-2-4-2-3-1-0-0-5-12-3-9-1-2.
In round four, Barry van Beers was brushed aside 60-33 in 22 innings. Next up was the semifinal, against long-time rival Eddy Merckx: 60-52 in 30 innings, with a high run of 11 for Caudron, a 10 for Merckx.
The final was once again a battle between Caudron and Leppens. The exceptional tournament average of the winner did drop a bit in that match, it took 35 innings and the decision fell in the very last inch: 60-58 in 35. Caudron remained unbeaten in Emblem, he recorded an average of 2.384 (360 in 151), and confirmed his current, impressive form.
