CAPELLE AAN DEN IJSSEL - Dick Jaspers won the very first Grand Prix in the Netherlands in 1986 and this Saturday his 60th out of 120 (thanks Bert van Manen for the stats). The world champion played a one-way final in Capelle, facing surprising Roland Uijtdewillegen, playing his first Grand Prix final in his career: 40-19 in 21. He joked: ''My best Grand Prix ever, but I forgot to beat Jaspers.''
Dick Jaspers, who rarely makes a misstep in his home land, was only threatened in the group stage by Harrie van de Ven in a crazy match (22-2 and 34-4 behind), but then first outplayed Dave Christiani in the knock-outs (33-10 in 8, 40-33 in 15) with excellent averages for both players: 2,667 and 2,200. The start of the final, against Roland Uijtdewillegen, was again the intro for a big win (30-8 in 13). The opponent only got some chances at the end to finish 40-19. Jaspers, in short, was sovereign again in this Grand Prix in the short periode of no major international events.
He was the deserved champion on the main podium of this Grand Prix, ahead of Roland Uijtdewillegen, Jeffrey Jorissen and Dave Christiani. Raimond Burgman, in recent Grand Prix events the black beast for Jaspers, Barry van Beers, Jean van Erp and Therese Klompenhouwer were eliminated in an earlier stage.