ZOERSEL - The scenery outside the billiard room, with a wonderful blanket of snow, could be so picturesque, the actors in the topmatch of such a high class... But actually there was not one moment of tension in the clash between the Belgian topteams De Ploeg and BC Deurne, which ended in a 4-4 draw.
High class meets bad form: that's the best summary of the game.
Eddy Merckx (against Jef Philipoom) and Ludo Dielis (against Wesley Jaeger) for BC Deurne and Martin Horn (against Dick Jaspers) and Jean van Erp (against Jean Paul de Bruijn) for De Ploeg built up a big lead from the start in their matches, the winners were known long before the end.
Look at the scores in all four matches:
Martin Horn-Dick Jaspers 50-27 in 19 (2.526/1.350)
Eddy Merckx-Jef Philipoom 50-28 in 22 (2.272/1.272)
Ludo Dielis the Jaeger-Wesley 42-31 in 49 (0.857/0.632)
Jean van Erp Jean Paul de Bruijn 42-28 in 27 (1.555/1.037).
What does it say about the match that could have been decisive for the title fight?
1 Dick Jaspers is surely in a great form, as he showed in the German league last weekend in a 40 points match in 11 innings. But even a player of his caliber sometimes can lose his way on the table some day, when he can not adapt to the billiard, to the room or when he cannot find his rhythm. That's what happened to this big gun of billiards. He was blown off the table by Martin Horn.
2 The German gave a demonstration, on this (short) table which he is accustomed, of amazing shots, positional play and a killer mentality needed in such a contest. Horn made 23 caroms in the 15th, 16th and 17th turn with a maximum 12-run. Two innings later, he closed the match.
3 Eddy Merckx was not at his peak in the Belgian championships, where he lost his title, but he's a flesh-and-blood man, not always playing on a top level. But last night he recovered immediately with an amazing match. Jef Philipoom is not the least, certainly not at home, but after 19-19, Merckx took the initiative with a run of eleven and overshadowed his opponent by that attack.
4 Ludo Dielis, as a seasoned, smart veteran is the ideal player for a certain two-points match in an encounter like this. He kept his younger opponent Wesley de Jaeger within range from the first innings. There was no doubt about who would take the match when Dielis led 23-6. The home player had a touching bad start and Dielis benefited it optimally.
5 Jean van Erp could even afford a bad sprint: he could have finished and beat Jean Paul de Bruijn on a 38-19 score and leave him far behind. The 'Brabander' played as always, very passionately, he scored the points which were makeable, entertained the home crowd with his spirit and could freewheel near the end. So immense was the difference between the two players.
6 Jean Paul de Bruijn was honored as the new Dutch champion one cushion in between. He is - together with Frédéric Caudron - still one of the greatest in this discipline, a player with an amazing technique. As a three cushion player, De Bruijn has too many ups and downs in recent years. He plays super one week and too bad the other. The 'Zeeuw' has a superb year in Belgium so far, with 1.812 in seven matches, but failed against Jean van Erp.