WINSCHOTEN - He certainly had wished a better finish, but who could blame Jean Paul de Bruijn for it. The Dutch phenomenon in one cushion, who won his twelfth national title in Winschoten in a round robin with eight players, showed his great form. His average after five of seven rounds (25.00!) eventually dropped to 21.20, he lost the final to Michel Silfhout, but was the absolutely deserved Dutch champion.
The former world champion already had taken the title before the final match, because Michel van Silfhout, side-by-side with the front-runner for five laps, was stopped by a magnificent Jos Bongers in the penultimate round. The man from Nijmegen, who visibly suffered from a broken bone in his upper arm, could not reach his normal level, but showed his enormous class in the sixth round. The match against Michel Silfhout was the best of the tournament: 125-16 in three innings with a high run of 71.
The battle for gold was decided after that round. Jean Paul de Bruijn dealt with Sam van Etten, the young revelation of the tournament, in the same round (125-49 in 5) and secured the victory. He later said about the closing match: ,,I had a super feeling before the final and 25.00 was obviously a magnificent average. The table was good, the atmosphere, but in the final, with a full crowd, the circumstances changed. I had a few 'butages', so I missed on decisive moments.'' Michel Silfhout underlined what the champion said about the circumstances. The outsider in the tournament, a well known player from De Veemarkt, remained unbeaten in six rounds and finished nearly over ten average. ,,I am very satisfied with my performance.''
In the final, De Bruijn started with a margin after a run of 51, but Van Silfhout came back with runs of 46 and 16. He led after eight innings 106-66 and finished it of 125-98 at 10.
Michel Silfhout calculated that it was the tenth time in one cushion that he was second on the podium. ,,In all those years I had to deal with Jean Paul de Bruijn, Jos Bongers, Dick Jaspers and Henri Tilleman in this discipline.'' He resumed: ,,It was a pity that there was no tension this time in the final, because the championship was already decided by Jos Bongers' great match against me.''
Raymund Swertz ended third on the podium with eight match points. The young guy Sam van Etten, invitated for the tournament, was fourth due to a less average than Swertz. He showed, however, that he's also growing to be a great one cushion player, especially in his last match against Leo Koomen with a wonderful run of 116 !!
The final score:
1 Jean Paul de Bruijn 12-21.20-113
2 Michel Silfhout 12-10.63-79
3 Raymund Swertz 8-11.40-92
4 Sam van Etten 8-9.81-116
5 Rene Tull 8-8.80-70
6 Jos Bongers 6-9.85-71
7 Leo Koomen 2-5.85-54
8 Gert van Beek 0-4.15-53.