SITTARD – The final win in the first Grand Prix this season underlined Dick Jaspers' supremacy in his own country. In the Sittard Billiard Academy, the number one of the national three-cushion defeated Glenn Hofman in the final, 40-15 in 17 innings. That decisive victory came about in a one-way match, in which Jaspers dominated from the start, including a run of 13. He quickly took a lead of 15 and 20 points and eventually crowned the Grand Prix with a resounding victory. On the final day, Dick Jaspers' mastery was improbable. In his last three matches, Jaspers needed only 10, 14 and 17 innings for the 40 caroms, an average almost 3. Only the first match in the knock-out against Joey de Kok from Zeeland showed a balanced picture. His young opponent kept up until 34-34, then Jaspers made the difference. De Kok missed at that equal score, because he played his cueball right in a kiss, Jaspers stayed cool and finished with a run of 6.
The multiple Dutch champion then started his expedition against Barry van Beers (40-8 in 10), Volkan Cetin (40-24 in 14) and finally in the last match against Glenn Hofman (40-15 in 17, 2.352 average against 0.882 for his Hague opponent.
The Grand Prix was launched by a false start for Raimond Burgman, who was eliminated in the preliminary stage, the same for Sam van Etten, one of the young contenders. They missed the eighth finals, in which Huub Wilkowski was the best winner of 16 finalists with a win over Raymund Swertz (40-32 in 23). Barry van Beers and Jeffrey Jorissen impressed with wins in 25 innings. Barry van Beers beat Jerry Hermans 40-29, Jeffrey Jorissen was the better of Adrie Demming 40-27. Dave Christiani was beaten by Volkan Cetin, the player who already shone in the last group schedule and now also beat one of the contenders 40-37 in 36.
Glenn Hofman set his candidature by winning in a difficult match against Jack Wijnen 40-35 in 41. Jean Paul de Bruijn beat Roland Uijtdewillegen 40-26 in 26, Jean van Erp outclassed Frans van Schaik 40-14 in 26.
For places in the semi-finals, Jaspers pulled the trigger in his match with Van Beers (40-8 in 10, the best game of the tournament). Volkan Cetin put an end to Huub Wilkowski's illusions (40-36 in 23) and earned his place among the top four. So did Glenn Hofman in the showdown with Jean Paul de Bruijn (40-18 in 17) and Jean van Erp, who handed his former teammate Jeffrey Jorissen a painful loss: 40-16 in 24.
Volkan Cetin's triumphant run was stopped by Jaspers with 40-24 in 14, Glenn Hofman played his way into the final by beating Jean van Erp 40-22 in 18. That brought the Grand Prix in Sittard to a promising battle between Jaspers and Hofman, but the newly dethroned world number one was ruthless: Jaspers decisively beat Hofman 40-15 in 17 innings.
The final score:
- Dick Jaspers 160 points, 2,240, 15
- Glenn Hofman 108, 1,582, 13
- Jean van Erp 76, 1,432, 13
- Volkan Cetin 76, 1,398, 12
- Jeffrey Jorissen 52, 1,517, 12
- Huub Wilkowski 52, 1,374, 9
- Jean Paul de Bruijn 52, 1,351, 11
- Barry van Beers 52, 1,170, 7
- Raymund Swertz 32, 1,407, 9
- Jerry Hermans 32, 1,406, 8
- Adrie Demming 32, 1,288, 11
- Roland Uijtdewillegen 32, 1.245, 8
- Dave Christiani 32, 1,174, 12
- Joey de Kok 32, 1,114, 9
- Jack Wijnen 32, 1,089, 15
- Frans van Schaik 32, 1,055, 7.