SINT NIKLAAS - Francis Forton's year is, for now, one of ups and downs in the leagues where he plays. In the Dutch premier league, the Brusseler shone with a 40 in 16 against Peter De Backer, he had his minor games as well, but in the Belgian league the real Forton stood up again this Tuesday night. That happened in his match against Gerwin Valentijn with De Witte Molen against Biljart Express. The Dutchman had finished and was the almost certain winner, but at 40-30, Forton made a magnificent 10, which in retrospect was good for the equal score in the match: De Witte Molen-Biljart Express 4-4.
Biljartclub Den Eik maintained its lead in the 6th round this week by a 6-2 victory at KBC Brugse, where Eddy Merckx was the best man in this round with a win over Steven van Acker: 40-23 in 18. Two teams share second place: Op de Meir, that played a draw against Kortrijkse, and Mister 100, winner in the match against Billiard Promotion.
Francis Forton and De Witte Molen remains a good middle runner-up with De Witte Molen, mainly due to the good performances of young German leading man Tom Löwe, who makes important progress this year. He was victorious on Tuesday against Frans van Kuyk 40-34 in 31. The match score towards the end was 3-3 at the time, but as Gerwin Valentijn finished at 40-30 against Forton, the full win was almost certain for Biljart Express. Francis Forton: ''I went to the table for a tough mission, but I made two nice balls in the first a few innings, so I started to believe in it. The second last carom was super difficult. I made it and then was able to equalise. I was super happy for the team.''
Francis Forton explains his shaky season so far by minor, physical discomfort. ''I have to visit an osteopath regularly for pain at the bottom of my back. It is a kind of osteoarthritis, says the doctor. I'm 60, it would be better if I didn't play billiards. You should avoid bending down, says the doctor, but billiards is a lot of bending down. So I will have to live with it, an occasional painkiller and I can go on again.''
At BC Den Eik versus Brugse, Merckx won against Van Acker and Davy van Havere against Henk Blauwblomme (40-35 in 46). The other two games ended in a draw: Bart Leys against Richard Bitalis in 38 innings, Koen Saver against Ludo Dielis in 53. Mister 100 won the home match against Billiard Promotion 5-3, despite Peter Ceulemans' loss against Jean Paul de Bruijn 40-39 in 25. Ceulemans had to score three times in the equalizer, but missed the last point. Jerry Hermans and Bart Ceulemans defeated Marc Janssen and Peter Meersman in 30 and 35 innings. Kurt Ceulemans took the full win for the team against Danny Geysen with the equaliser in the last inning: 40-40 in 35.
At Op de Meir, Jef Philipoom, also strong in Spain last weekend, played an excellent match against Ronny Brants: 40-35 in 21. Roland Uijtdewillegen took the win on one carom against Martin Ravestyn (40-39 in 35), but Eddy Leppens and Ivan Stitschinsky lost for the home team to Philippe Van den Driessche and Frédéric Beghin. Beghin's win with 1.600 on average came partly thanks to the highest weekly run of 12. Leppens' loss, after two defeats in the Dutch premier league last weekend, was notable with 0.880 on average against Vandendriessche.
Mister 100's second team achieved a good score against De Leug (4-4), as Paul Bruijstens, in remarkable form these recent weeks, won against Pierre Soumagne 40-38 in 42. Wesley de Jaeger and Huub Wilkowski beat Marc Celen and Erwin Hens, but Wilco van Wijk's win against Kenny Miatton (40-32 in 34) kept the score balanced.
BC Herstalien and TBA Biljartpalace will play for the sixth round on Friday.
BC Den Eik, the leading team with Eddy Merckx, Davy van Havere, Ludo Dielis and Richard Bitalis
The Brugge team with Koen Saver, Bart Leys, Henk Blauwblomme and Steven van Acker