EEKLO - The chapelain observed in silence, and he saw it was good. Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx were the star players in the final of the BTS tournament in Eeklo, won by Caudron. In that jampacked room (150 spectators), many well-known faces in billiards could be found, some of them from far away.
Who does not know him, Jo de Meyere, with many wonderful roles in movies and tv-shows to his credit, still mostly remembered as chapelain Erik Odekerke in "Dagboek van een herdershond" (diary of a sheep dog). Jo de Meyere, now 77, living in Eeklo, in a billiard room on the second day of easter? That must have a special reason. And it had. The 62-year old billiard club of Eeklo hosted the third BTS tournament of the season in their stately room, right in the heart of the city. Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx were the two last players remaining, after a long series of qualifications. What more could the spectators ask for?
The Eeklose Biljart Club has a rich history, and an illustrious president (Aime Immesoete), who is ninety years old and was not present at Monday's matches. Roger Clauws was there though, in the VIP-box. He is a former referee and has been a member for 56 years. Daniël Bruggeman passed away two months ago, he was the best player ever to come out of the Eeklo club.
Zaal Montana, over a shop at the market square in Eeklo, has filled up to capacity for the final day. The two most remarkable spectators: two Dutchmen, Arnoud de Vries and his friend Ton Smilde, both amateur billiard photographers. "Are there billiard matches anywhere?" they wondered early in the day. Ton knew about the BTS final in Eeklo, and they decided that it was worth a two hour and 240 km drive, twice. They arrived in Eeklo, camera's ready, awaiting a beautiful final.
They were first treated to a wonderful semifinal at least, where Frédéric Caudron gave Eddy Leppens the full treatment: an avalanche of points and a big defeat: 40-11 in 11 innings. It could have been even worse, from Leppens' perspective, because it was 37-4 after nine innings, thanks to runs of seven, eight and ten for Caudron. The other semi was not on the same level: Eddy Merckx and Peter De Backer needed time and innings to get it done, and Merckx came out on top: 40-26 in 32.
The crowd was anticipating a great final: Caudron and Merckx, how could that not be a superb match? Well, it wasn't. A laborsome opening phase, 12-10 to Merckx after 9 innings, still nobody breaking away after 11 innings (17-16), then Caudron creating a gap with a run of eight: 30-27. He did not give up the lead from that point on: 40-31 in 24 to Frédéric. ,,It had gotten warmer in the room, the billiards had changed, it was tougher to make the sensitive points'', Caudron later commented. Never mind, he was mighty pleased with this tournament win, shortly before he would leave for Luxor's World Cup.
Frédéric Caudron is now even four for four in Belgium, he noticed. Last year he won the Superprestige in Lommel, the Belgian Nationals in Blankenberge and now consecutive BTS tournaments in Sint Niklaas and Eeklo. His averages in those: a lofty 2.000 and 2.200.
The Eeklo billiard club, with its 62 members, had some news after the final. Leslie Menheer, one of the prominents, told us: ,,We have applied with the UMB for a late 2017 or early 2018 World Championship for players over 65. That would be a first, but we know that Korea (Seoul) is also interested in organizing the event.''
The major contenders for that title are of course Belgians: Raymond Ceulemans and Ludo Dielis. ,,We have looked around'', said Menheer. ,, Rico from Spain, who once took a title away from Ceulemans, could be one of the players. And maybe Rini van Bracht from the Netherlands, or Oddo from Italy... and some Asian players. We need to look into it some more, but we have made an official bid. The criterium must be, that the players have participated in a World- or European championship. We want the tournament to have a good quality level.''
Eddy Merckx also shared some news. He will leave De Goeie Queue after two successful years, to play for Quality Zele, which is still in the race for promotion to the top league.
A full house for the BTS final at the Eeklose Biljart Club in Belgium
Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Leppens: what's happening in the billiards world?