OOSTERHOUT - The international career of Glenn Hoffman has not (yet) become what was expected, but in his own country, the Hagenaar won the Oosterhout Grand Prix last weekend, which appeals far beyond the country's borders. Hofman defeated Dick Jaspers in the final 40-25 in 20 innings. ,,I am very happy with this victory'', was his first reaction after a match in which he had a great start (12-1) and later made the final gap with a run of eleven.
The Grand Prix victory was his first in his career for Hofman, for Dick Jaspers, by far the best Dutchman in the World Cups and international tournaments, it was the fourth Grand Prix in which he did not win. Raimond Burgman, his tormentor in the previous tournaments, was now eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jean Paul de Bruijn.
The former, two-time European junior champion Glenn Hoffman rarely travels to World Cups and has therefore dropped far on the rankings. The cause may be known: the 26-year-old Glenn Hofmann got married, he doesn't want to make expensive travels and shines, already for a few years, especially in the Netherlands. Never before he won a Grand Prix: three times he was second (winners Dick Jaspers, Barry van Beers and Martien van der Spoel) and last year Hofman was defeated in the Masters final by Raimond Burgman. Two times Glenn Hoffman took the league title for teams, last year with Buffalo.nl in a final match with Zundert, where he beat Roland Forthomme twice. But the most impressive result, Hofman took in Cali, Colombia: third place at the World Games.
The Grand Prix victory in De Eekhoorn in Oosterhout was not a coïncidence at all. On the day before the final, after an exciting match against Therese Klompenhouwer (40-40 in 23 and win after three shoot-outs) Hofman said: ,,You never know what will be tomorrow, but I have a chance to win.''Not only he needed a win over Jaspers in the final, also in the semi-finals he faced Jean Paul de Bruijn, one of the star players in the early rounds of the tournament.
That match against the Zeeuw had a unusual course. De Bruijn seemed on his way to victory, was leading 36-27, but then missed twelve times (!) in a row, allowing Hofman to first come closer and finally finish at 40-36. De Bruijn could equalize, but missed his last carom. Glenn Hofman: ,,You can say that I was lucky, but I think it was the better finish.'' And so it was. The Hagenaar therefore qualified for the final, like Jaspers did at the other table against Dave Christiani, who also had a slump during the match: 14-10 in five innings, then two caroms in eleven innings, making the final score 40-16 (16).
The final match quickly went Glenn Hofman's way, with a 12-1 lead. ,,Dick came back and led shortly before the break 18-16'', Hofman looked back later. ,,I could make it up to 26-20 and then ran out with a run of 11 to 37-20. With two and one I could finish it afterwards: 40-25 in 20.''
The Grand Prix in Oosterhout was more or less the breakthrough of Jerry Herman, who played in all his matches around 1.500 average and was beaten by Dick Jaspers in the quarter-finals 40-30 in 20.
The final ranking in the Grand Prix:
1 Glenn Hofman 1.600-13
2 Dick Jaspers 2.070-11
3 Jean Paul de Bruijn 1.475-11
4 Dave Christiani 1.459-9
5 Raimond Burgman 1.532-8
6 Jerry Hermans 1.472-8
7 Jean van Erp 1.388-8
8 Huub Wilkowski 1.094-10
9 Jeffrey van Nijnatten 1.344-12
10 Ad Koorevaar 1.175-9
11 Roland Uijtdewillegen 1.152-9
12 Wilco van Wijk 1.125-10
13 Wim van Cromvoirt 1.022-12
14 Therese Klompenhouwer 1.021-6
15 Frans van Schaik 0.955-8
16 Wil Janssen 0.663-6.
Glenn Hofman, first Grand Prix win in his career