SPRUNDEL – The Dutch three-cushion team league had a day of extremes in the tenth round. Aartsbouw, the league leaders, went all out against RCN Nieuwegein, Eekhoorn delivered a remarkable knockout blow to Zundert, and two contenders for the top spot held each other in a close match. The best player of the day was Peter Ceulemans, the Belgian who defeated young Dutch talent Sam van Etten 40-15 in 12 innings. Aartsbouw's lead was never threatened, with their lead over Bousema and Eekhoorn standing at two and three match points after this round.
Team Eekhoorn was the clear winner of this day's match. The Oosterhout team gave Van Baal's Zundert team a lesson in billiards with an impressive 8-0 victory. The skill level of three of the home team's players was exceptionally high. Nick Polychronopoulos defeated Roland Forthomme 40-13 in 20 innings, Peter Ceulemans defeated Sam van Etten 40-15 in 12 innings, and Frans van Kuyk defeated the old master Martin Spoormans 40-19 in 19 innings. Only Kurt Ceulemans narrowly won against Francis Forton 40-38 in 33 innings.
Cues&Darts and Bousema remained evenly matched until the final innings, when Jeffrey Jorissen secured victory against Glenn Hofman 40-36 in 25 innings in the prestigious Hague match. That ultimately turned Cues&Darts' 4-2 lead into a well-deserved 4-4 final score. Bousema, playing away in Tilburg, was extremely pleased with the result, as the tension on center court had been high in the final part. Hofman and Jorissen alternated until the score reached 36-36, when Jorissen proved to be the better sprinter with a final run of four. "A good point for us in Tilburg," Jorissen later noted. Regarding the match: "We actually played quite well in the beginning, even though neither of us had an easy game. In the second half, we made too many mistakes."
Jef Philipoom and Huub Wilkowski scored for Cues&Darts against Johan Loncelle and Paul Bruijstens: 40-29 and 40-23. Frans van Schaik played a crucial role for his team, winning after a 21-3 lead at halftime against Joey de Kok: 40-37 in 32.
Aartsbouw fully lived up to its rankings leader status by defeating RCN Nieuwegein 6-2. Eddy Merckx and Turgay Orak were strong winners against Dave Christiani and Gerwin Valentijn, 40-17 and 40-33 in 21 and 22 innings respectively. Barry van Beers was the third winner for the league leaders, defeating Philippe Vandendriessche 40-33 in 34. Two Belgian rivals met in the fourth inning: Blauwblomme defeated Brants 40-25 in 24.
For Paperclip, which trailed 4-0 at halftime against SIS/Vervoort, Dick Jaspers and Anno Kleine levelled their matches in the second half. Jaspers defeated Burgman 40-27 in 21, and De Kleine defeated Swertz 40-30 in 27. Martien van der Spoel and Harrie van de Ven were winners for the home team against Cédric Melnytschenko and Dan Breur in 23 and 30 innings respectively.
The two teams at the bottom of the standings shared the points. Niehaus and Dekker scored for Harwig, while Kivits and De Bondt won for Burgmans Biljarts.
The standings with matches played and match points:
- Aartsbouw 9-16
- Bousema 9-14
- Eekhoorn 9-13
- Cues&Darts 10-13
- Van Baal 9-9
- SIS/Vervoort 9-9
- Paperclip 9-8
- Dallinga 9-8
- RCN Nieuwegein 9-4
- Burgmans Biljarts 9-4
- Harwig 9-2.
Next round on December 21:
RCN Nieuwegein-Dallinga
Bousema-Aartsbouw
Burgmans-Team Eekhoorn
Van Baal-SIS/Vervoort
Paperclip-Harwig.