BERLICUM -The first blow at the Dutch Masters was handed out by John Tijssens. The 51-year-old Brabant player, known for his high-speed matches, started with a victory over Hague coming man Jeffrey Jorissen (40-21 in 23) and was one of the best players after two days. The reigning champion, Dick Jaspers, topped the field of sixteen at the Dutch three cushion championship in the pre-rounds after two days. Dick Jaspers, brilliant from the start, is last three year's title holder and by far the big favorite for a another title. Not only the title is at stake, also the 30 points he can earn for the world ranking.
John Tijssens returned to the Masters' stage for the first time after 2005 and after a long absence. The preparation for his come-back was severely disrupted at the end of last year by serious heart problems. "I had surgery on December 3," he explained. ,,During the operation, my chest was cut open, they removed blood vessels from my leg and inserted them near my heart. The recovery actually went quite quickly, because I was playing billiards for the first time a week and a half before the Masters. My focus was really good, I played a fantastic match."
The second brought some of the former BWA organizers in the Vip box, with the legend Raymond Ceulemans as a special guest. The master himself, Raymond Ceulemans, joined a company that was part of billiards history in the BWA era.
The sixteen players in the Jumbo Masters are two days on their way now and only Dick Jaspers (4 match points, 2,285), Jean van Erp (4, 1,632), Barry van Beers (4, 1,379) and Harrie van de Ven (4, 1,538) are unbeaten.
The rankings after two days:
Group A:
1 Dick Jaspers 4-2.285-6
2 Jack Wines 2-1.326-8
3 Frans van Schaik 2-1.086-8
4 Roland Uijtdewillegen 0-0.880-5
The matches for Saturday, 13.00:
Jaspers-Uijtdewillegen
Wijnen-Van Schaik.
Group B:
1 Jean van Erp 4-1.632-13
2 John Tijssens 2-1,604-12
3 Jeffrey Jorissen 2-1.297-6
4 Huub Wilkowski 0-0.812-3.
The matches for Saturday, 15.00 in the third round:
Van Erp-Jorissen
Tijssens-Wilkowski.
Group C:
1 Barry van Beers 4-1.379-7
2 Raymund Swertz 2-1.411-10
3 Raimond Burgman 2-1214-7
4 Volkan Cetin 0-1.113-9.
The games for Saturday 5 pm:
Burgman Cetin
Van Beers-Swertz
Group D:
1 Harrie van de Ven 4-1.538-10
2 Martien van der Spoel 2-1.440-7
3 Therese Klompenhouwer 2-0.963-8
4 Dave Christiani 0-1298-9.
Matches for Saturday, 11.00:
Van de Ven-Klompenhouwer
Van der Spoel-Christiani.