HENGELO – Dutch billiard player Jelle Pijl, who was successful with a number of teams, died this Monday morning in his hometown of Hengelo. In his long, active career, he played in teams with players like Dick Jaspers, Torbjörn Blomdahl, Marco Zanetti and Raimond Burgman and won among others the cup final and the Dutch team title. Jelle Pijl (9 November 1961) was ill for over one year, he lived with his girlfriend Natascha and leaves behind two 'bonus children'.
’’We’re going to miss in him a good and very sporty colleague,'' Dick Jaspers commented on Jelle's passing. ''Especially in the east of the country, he was well-liked and enjoyed great fame.''
Among other things, the Hengelo billiard player won the cup with Dinand Prinsen's team in Haarlo and achieved successes with Ben Velthuis' Twentevisie, where Torbjörn Blomdahl and Marco Zanetti also played at the time. Jelle also was internationally succesful with teams. His last team was Harwig Den Ham until last year. With that team, he played five times in this competition. His last match was on 17 November (2023). Other teams apart from Twentevisie in the early days included Holland Mineraal, Pelgrim Professionals, A1 and Bousema Lochem with team leaders including Ben Velthuis, Dinand Prinsen, Addy Wienk and Ronny Hazewinkel.
With Dick Jaspers, Eddy Leppens, Anno de Kleine and Raymund Swertz, Jelle Pijl won the team cup for Haarlo. In his earlier years, Jelle also played the classical games, for which he was schooled at Papendal. In 1981, Jelle played at the European free game championship in Zele and in 1983 he played the European 47/2 championship in Vienna. With Hengelo, he became Dutch premier league champion three times in a row.
Jelle Pijl in his better years