WINSCHOTEN - The 25-year-old Dutch player Demi Pattiruhu prolonged his national title in free game in Winschoten. The well deserved winner of the gold medal, who remained unbeaten throughout the tournament, defeated René Tull in the final 350-1 in one inning. Sam van Etten took the bronze medal by a victory over Ferry Jong 350-1 in two innings.
The two finalists showed themselves the best in the preliminaries and the knock out stage. They both excelled from start to finish. Demi Pattiruhu and René Tull topped the first round with group wins and defeated the North Holland players Sam van Etten and Ferry Jong in the semi-finals in short mtches. Tull finished in one inning, Pattiruhu in three.
In the final Rene Tull started with one from the break, Pattiruhu answered with 350. He struggled to find the perfect poition, but took his rhythm after 75 points when he got control over the balls. ,,The tension was high'', he explained later. ,,I knew my opponent also could finish in one inning, so there was a lot of pressure on my run.''
The victory was Pattiruhu's second in a row after wins of Sam van Etten and Raymund Swertz in the previous championships. As a junior Pattiruhu triumphed twice at the Dutch championship 47/2 and once in the free game.
The final group rankings:
Group A:
1 Demi Pattiruhu 4-8-200.00-350
2 Ferry Jong 4-4-67.08-347
3 Guido Kauffeld 4-3-50.71-350
4 Martijn Egbers 4-3-45.80-187
5 Hans Klok 4-2-41.50-70
Group B:
1 Rene Tull 4-6-116.72-350
2 Sam van Etten 4-5-74.40-175
3 Jim van der Zalm 4-4-150.57-318
4 Roij van Raaij 4-3-116.66-248
5 Micah van Bochem 4-2-72.16-175.
The final score:
1 Demi Pattiruhu 12-190.91-350
2 Rene Tull 8-125.77-350
3 Sam van Etten 7-74.20-348
4 Ferry Jong 4-53.87-347
5 Martijn Egbers 7-57.31-196
6 Guido Kauffeld 5-56.08-350
7 Jim van der Zalm 6-128.00-348
8 Roij van Raaij 3-68.89-248
9 Micha van Bochem 4-81.07-234
10 Hans Klok 2-48.18-238.