ANDERNOS - Roland Forthomme has given his come-back at the billiard table an unexpected lustre. The Belgian, who underwent a medical surgery after a heart failure, was by far the best starter in the last preliminary D group at the Kozoom Challenge Cup and leads after the first day of play 6-2 against Nikos Polychronopoulos and even 6-0 against Mikael Nilsson. The big lead came about in five consecutive set wins, after Polychronopoulos had won the first. The Greek, who had no feeling at all on the table, as he said in the interview afterwards, was unrecognisable, but could fortunately bring the margin back to four sets. Michael Nilsson, the substitute for Martin Horn, saw his chances melt away on the first day.
The Belgian leader Forthomme was at his best in the third set (won with runs of 6 and 4 in 2 innings), the fifth set (with 9 and 1 in 2 innings) and the flawless finish with 6 in the sixth set. Nikos Polychronopoulos won the first set 10-8-4 after a start with lots of misses and later also the penultimate round 10-5-4. In the very last part, it looked as if Mikael Nilsson might also come into the match, but the Swedish outsider failed to make the winning point.
The average with which Roland Forthomme closed the day (1,714) and his spirit is remarkable after his period of recovery. ''The lead is nice, but no guarantee yet'', he realised in the interview afterwards. ''I certainly expect my opponents to play better in the coming days.'' Nikos Polychronopoulos put on a worried face (''I didn't feel nothing...''). Michael Nilsson had an acceptable excuse: ''In the quiet period, because there were no tournaments anyway, I played pool billiards with a friend for money. So I totally lost my stroke. That is a pity, because I was very happy with this invitation.''
The ranking after the first day:
1 Roland Forthomme 6-72-42-1,714-9
2 Nikos Polychronopoulos 2-45-41-1.098-4
3 Michael Nilsson 0-33-39-0.846-6.
Set 1 : Polychronopoulos 1,111 (3-0-1-0-2-2)
Polychronopoulos 10, Nilsson 4, Forthomme 8
Set 2 : Forthomme 2,000 (1-5-1-2-1)
Nilsson 4, Polychronopoulos 7, Forthomme 10
Set 3 : Forthomme 5,000 (4-6)
Forthomme 10, Polychronopoulos 4, Nilsson 0
Set 4 : Forthomme 1,250 (1-0-3-1-3-0-1)
Polychronopoulos 8, Forthomme 10, Nilsson 5
Set 5 : Forthomme 3,333 (9-0-1)
Nilsson 4, Forthomme 10, Polychronopoulos 1
Set 6 : Forthomme 3.333 (3-1-6)
Forthomme 10, Nilsson 2, Polychronopoulos 1
Set 7 : Polychronopoulos 1.428 (1-0-0-2-3-4)
Polychronopoulos 10, Nilsson 5, Forthomme 4
Set 8 : Forthomme 1,428 (2-0-4-0-1-0-3)
Nilsson 9, Polychronopoulos 4, Forthomme 10
Nikos Polychronopoulos, in trouble with only two sets won on the first day
Michael Nilsson, still looking for his first set win
Roland Forthomme, dominating his two opponents on the first day