SLUISKIL – The four teams for the play-offs in the Dutch league are Cues&Darts, Aartsbouw, Eekhoorn and Dallinga. In the final round, Dallinga and Eekhoorn secured the two remaining spots. Eekhoorn and Dallinga play against each other next week at the campsite in Oosterhout. The winner of that encounter meets Aartsbouw later. The last match against Cues&Darts determines the champion. For Dallinga, Jean Paul de Bruijn was the match winner this Sunday with a smooth victory over Dave Christiani: 40-18 in 16 innings after a breakaway with a 34-5 lead in 13 innings.
Bousema essentially squandered his chances in the first half against Aartsbouw. Turgay Orak defeated Jeffrey Jorissen 40-21 in 25 innings, and Ronny Brants pulled the trigger just in time against Frans van Schaik (40-39), leaving Bousema trailing 4-0 at halftime. Dallinga, which was tied at 2-2 against RCN, had things in its own hands and only needed to win the final two matches. Jean Paul de Bruijn was sublime against Christiani, and Steven van Acker also secured a comfortable lead against Philippe Vandendriessche: 40-28 in 22 innings.
The Dallinga arena, delighted with the prize at the end of the regular season, briefly made way for a farewell. Peter De Backer played in the Sluiskil team almost from the very beginning and is leaving for Aartsbouw after this season. He and his wife Judit were honored for their many successes and loyal service to the team. Outside the arena, Gerwin Valentijn, who turns 58 this week and played his last match for RCN, said that he will also be celebrating a milestone next season. "I will be playing in the league for the 40th consecutive year. Probably no one can say the same." Valentijn is also moving to Aartsbouw.
Eddy Merckx and Martin Horn, both scoring 40 in 12 innings on Saturday, played a match that counted only for the statistics. The German had a better start, but Eddy Merckx made a magnificent comeback and turned the match incredibly tense at 34-33, with both averaging 2. Horn finished first and handed Merckx one of his rare losses in the Dutch league: 40-36 in 19.
Dallinga and Aartsbouw therefore both won 6-2. Among the Zeeland team, Berry Dallinga defeated Henk Blauwblomme 40-30 in 36 innings, and Valentijn won against De Backer with a closing run of 6, 40-39 in 34. De Bruijn shone against Christiani with 40-18 in 16 innings, the best match in this round.
For Aartsbouw, Orak, Van Beers, and Brants won against Jorissen, Loncelle, and Van Schaik. Team Eekhoorn left nothing to chance against Burgmans and won 8-0. Eddy Leppens was the best winner against Bart Ceulemans (40-25 in 17), while Polychronopoulos, Peter Ceulemans, and Kurt Ceulemans won in 21, 23, and 29 innings.
SIS and Van Baal shared the victory, with wins for Forthomme and Van Etten for Van Baal and for Swertz and Van der Spoel for SIS. Sam van Etten needed only 18 innings against Burgman after his excellent victory over Leppens on Saturday.
Harwig is relegated from the top league after the 0-8 loss against Paperclip on the final day. Dick Jaspers won, among other things, with a run of 12 towards the end.
It is not yet known whether RCN Nieuwegein will play in the relegation/promotion play-off, as it is not yet certain what will happen with the team's license. The current players will almost certainly leave for other teams.
The final score in the regular premier league, the Kozoom league:
1 Cues&Darts 31-1,423
2 Aartsbouw 29-1.338
3 Eehoorn 26-1.366
4 Dallinga 25-1.223
5 Bousema 23-1.389
6 Van Baal 21-1.255
7 SIS 20-1.301
8 Paper clip 17-1.184
9 Burgmans 14-1,200
10 RCN 7-1.109
11 Harwig 7-0.945