LA BAULE – The French three-cushion team title went to Soissons this Sunday evening. The champions won in the final against Andernos 5-3. The team featuring Jérémy Bury, Eddy Merckx, Jean Paul de Bruijn, and Pierre Soumagne was the strongest of ten teams with a total of 16 match points in 9 rounds. The champion team remained undefeated with 7 wins and 2 draws. The Blois 1 team finished second, two points behind, Andernos came third, Albert finished fourth. The final match decided the championship this Sunday evening in the arena of La Baule. When Soissons played a tie against Andernos, they were the champions and Soisons ultimately won 5-3. Andernos could only claim the title with a victory, but they didn’t succeed. For Soissons it was the third title in France.
In the final match, Eddy Merckx initially emerged victorious against Roland Forthomme (40-21 in 22). At that point, Soissons needed just one more victory. Jérémy Bury and Jean Paul de Bruijn finished almost simultaneously. Jérémy Bury defeated Marco Zanetti 40-35 in 18 innings. Jean Paul de Bruijn finished with 6, while Jérôme Barbeillon leveled the score (40-40 in 26 innings). By then, the championship was already secured for Soissons.
The champions started their series of 9 rounds with wins over Colmar (5-3), Albert (6-2), Intermarche (6-2), and Courbevoie (8-0). They then drew twice, against Blois 1 and Douarnenez. In the final weekend, Soissons won consecutively against Blois 2 6-2, St. Quentin 6-2, and finally against Andernos 5-3.
The Soissons champion team played its matches with five players. Jérémy Bury and Eddy Merckx played in all matches; the other three players were Jean Paul de Bruijn, Pierre Soumagne and Kévin Vasseur. Eddy Merckx won all 9 of his matches. In the other teams, by the way, Peter Ceulemans remained unbeaten as well. He won 8 matches and drew against Marco Zanetti, who leveled with 5 in the equalizer.
The best game of the entire competition was by Marco Zanetti with 4.444 on average. The young Frenchman Nathan Duriez made the highest run of all rounds: 17.
The champions in the middle during the ceremony in La Baule
The final standings of the French Championship
1 Soissons 16 points
2 Blois 1 14
3 Andernos 13
4 Albert 12
5 Colmar 10
6 St. Quentin 9
7 Intermarche 8
8 Douarnenez 5
9 Blois 2 2
10 Courbevoie 1
