ANKARA - Martin Horn's come-back led German billiards to a golden triumph at the European championships. With his brilliant teammate Ronny Lindemann, also returning after a brief stop in his career, the German duo became the new European three-cushion team champion in Ankara. The revelation of the European Championship, the Dutch B-team with Glenn Hofman and Barry van Beers, was defeated at the last minutes in the Scotch Double after a tie in the regular matches (wins Glenn Hofman against Martin Horn and Ronny Lindemann against Barry van Beers). The Germans were the best finishers with 15-5. At the podium, apart from the Germans and the Dutch, were the teams of Sweden and Spain 2. The European prelude, ahead of the European Individual championships that start tomorrow (Thursday), was a succession of spectacular scores and results and the elimination of top favorites. The Germans and the Dutch held out the longest in that war of attrition. Typical for the sensational tournament was that Netherlands 2 and Spain 2 were on the final podium and not the Greek title holder, the Spanish A-team, the Turks, the French and the Belgians.
The German team deserved the title on the basis of the highest average (1.883), the magnificent matches played by Martin Horn apart from that one match in the final against Glenn Hofman. And especially because of the flawless matches Ronny Lindemann showed. The German remained unbeaten and saved his team by sovereignly beating Barry van Beers 40-13 in 21 innings in the final. That happened while Martin Horn was trounced on the other match table by Glenn Hofman 40-28 in 17 innings.
The young Dutchman, who was on the podium in the last two World Cups in Sharm El Sheikh and Bogota, confirmed at this European Championship his tremendous progression towards his global breakthrough. Glenn Hofman won all his matches and played almost all of them around 2 average. Only Martin Horn was initially better in average, but the German leader was outplayed by Hofman in the title fight. The Scotch Double in the battle for gold was dominated by the Germans. Horn and Lindemann quickly ran out to a 4-1 lead, the Dutch came back to 4-4, then the Germans made the decisive gap from 7-5 to 15-5 without the Netherlands being able to score. Ronny Lindemann's winning carom was accompanied by a close embrace of the German winners. Ronny Lindemann's comments afterwards: ’’I am sooo happy with this victory, I can’t find the right words for it. After two very hard years for me, I think we deserve this because I have changed so much in my life.'' Martin Horn added: ''Really fantastic, I am so proud for our team. Christian Rudolph made a perfect trainings camp last weekend, and Ronny played a great tournament. In the Scotch Double, he was a huge champion. For myself, I can't believe after my last three months with my broken foot. But I worked very hard for my come-back. Germany deseerves this tltle after so many gold-less years.''
The quarter-finals were reached by Germany, the Netherlands, Spain 2, Sweden, Portugal, France 1 and France 2 and Turkey 2 after the preliminary rounds with 24 teams. Germany, Sweden and Spain 2 won against France 1, France 2 and Turkey 2 in the regular games. Netherlands 2 beat the Portuguese in the Scotch Double.
Glenn Hofman and Barry van Beers defeated Sweden in the semi-finals, when Glenn Hofman was much stronger than Torbjörn Blomdahl (40-20 in 19) and Barry van Beers won against Michael Nilsson 40-25 in 21. The Germans continued to score strongly unabated in those semi-finals. Spaniards Robinson Morales and Adrian Legazpi were defeated. Martin Horn made a great impression like in all his matches up to then. The German leader defeated Robinson Morales 40-24 in 14.
The European team tournament was a prelude to the individual title fight. Martin Horn, Glenn Hofman, Robinson Morales and Ronny Lindemann showed outstanding form. Nikos Polychronopoulos was among the stars with matches of 3.076 and 1.904, but did not have the teammate to advance in the tournament. Torbjörn Blomdahl and Michael Nilsson came far, but with slightly lesser averages for Sweden, Marco Zanetti played one strong and one lesser match, the same as Tayfun Tasdemir, Roland Forthomme, Turgay Orak and Burak Hashas.
The final rankings at the European Nations Team Championships:
- Germany 10-1,883-12
- Netherlands 2 8-1,680-10
- Spain 2 5-1,408-11
- Sweden 6-1,476-12
- Portugal 3-1,194-7
- France 1 2-1,179-9
- Turkey 2 3-1,441-8
- France 2 3-1,231-10
- Belgium 1 3-1,480-11
- Greece 1 3-1,398-9
The German winners before the start of the final match: Martin Horn and Ronny Lindemann
The Dutch Glenn Hofman and Barry van Beers, revelation at the Europeans
Martin Horn, excellent matches and averages
Ronny Lindemann, matchwinner in the final
Glenn Hofman, on his way to new international success