BERLICUM - For the first time since the Masters in 1987, when it was played with a group stage for the first time, Dick Jaspers has not reached the main tournament and the race to the Dutch title. The sixteen fold Masters winner was eliminated after two days of preliminary rounds by a draw against Roland Uijtdewillegen (40-40 in 23) and a fatal loss against Glenn Hofman (40-25 in 17). The big favourite for a new title is out, the battle for the 2016 Masters is completely open.
Jean van Erp presented in these first days as one of the main contenders to extend his title. Raimond Burgman, Barry van Beers and Jean Paul de Bruijn are the other important candidates now that Jaspers and Dave Christiani are out of the game.
Dick Jaspers was not looking for excuses after his elimination, but the disappointment was clear. ,,I was not on my best, but I didn't not play bad either'', he said. ,,My first match was a more or less unhappy draw when Roland Uijtdewillegen equalized with three. On the other hand, he could have win the match.''
,,My second against Glenn Hoffman had a worse start. Glenn made a big lucky shot and continued to nine points. And then another six, so I was 20-5 down in 5 innings. I couldn't close the gap and also missed a few makeable balls at the end.'' What must been said is that Jaspers was rather annoyed by the loud music during the start of the match.
,,Then, after the loss, I realized that Glenn is obviously the better player than Roland Uijtdewillegen, so the elimination was very close. That is what happened, even though I left Bert van Manen very far behind in my last match and ended up with the best group average, 1.693. But unfortunately, I'm not in the Masters anymore, that hurts.''
The Masters continues from today (Saturday) with the knockout rounds for the quarter-finals without its record champion. Glenn Hoffman and Bert van Manen advanced in Group A, the Hague-born after a superb recover as the leader in the group.
Final ranking Group A:
1 Glenn Hoffman 4-1.373-9
2 Bert van Manen 4-0.930-7
3 Dick Jaspers 3-1.693-8
4 Roland Uijtdewillegen 1-1.030-10
Jean van Erp showed himself superior in his group (six points, 1.904) and finished with a huge victory over his Hague teammate Jeffrey Jorissen 40-13 in 17 innings. Martien van der Spoel, who judged over Kay de Zwart in his last match, finished up second and is in the next round.
Final ranking Group B:
1 Jean van Erp 6-1.904-9
2 Martien van der Spoel 4-1.270-8
3 Kay de Zwart 2-0.860-7
4 Jeffrey Jorissen 0-0.877-6
Raimond Burgman maintained his unbeaten status in Group C after victories over Sander Jonen, Jean Paul de Bruijn and Frans van Schaik. The former Masters winner De Bruijn defeated Jonen in his last match and was never threatened for the second place. Frans van Schaik ended with two points just over one (1.044), Sander Jonen was well below 0.717.
Final ranking Group C:
1 Raimond Burgman 6-1.481-10
2 Jean Paul de Bruijn 4-1.513-7
3 Frans van Schaik 2-1.044-10
4 Sander Jonen 0-0.717-4.
Barry van Beers closed the group stage very well with a big victory over Dave Christiani: 40-23 in 17. He took the group win with five match points. Dave Christiani had a little chance to escape, but was dependent on the match between Ad Koorevaar and Therese Klompenhouwer.
Those two players came to a long trench war match, with averages fluctuating between 0.500 and 0.700 for a long time. Koorevaar was the coolest finisher.
The final ranking in Group D:
1 Barry van Beers 5-1.290-8
2 Ad Koorevaar 2-1.045-8
3 Dave Christiani 2-1.171-6
4 Therese Klompenhouwer 1-0.840-7.
Final ranking seeded players:
De eindstand van de geplaatste spelers:
1 Jean van Erp 6-1.904-9
2 Raimond Burgman 6-1.481-10
3 Barry van Beers 5-1.290-8
4 Glenn Hofman 4-1.3737-9
5 Jean Paul de Bruijn 4-1.513-7
6 Martien van der Spoel 4-1.270-8
7 Ad Koorevaar 2-1.045-8
8 Bert van Manen 4-0.930-7
Final ranking other payers:
9 Dick Jaspers 3-1.693-8
10 Dave Christiani 2-1.171-6
11 Frans van Schaik 2-1.044-10
12 Kay de Zwart 2-0.860-7
13 Roland Uijtdewillegen 1-1.030-10
14 Jeffrey Jorissen 0-0.877-6
15 Therese Klompenhouwer 1-0.840-7
16 Sander Jonen 0-0.717-4.
The quarter-finals for Saturday:
13.00:
Jean van Erp-Bert van Manen
Glenn Hoffman-Jean Paul de Bruijn
15.00:
Raimond Burgman-Ad Koorevaar
Barry van Beers-Martien van der Spoel.
Barry van Beers, an excellent last match