TURNHOUT - The two time champion in the Belgian team competition BC Deurne, has lost its leading position and are three points down to Biljart Express after seven match days. With Eddy Merckx as the new star on the team, the Turnhout four have raised the bar and they seem to be the main contender for the title. The quartet of Merckx, Van Kuyk, Valentijn and Spoormans defeated the reigning champion BC Deurne this week with a 5-3 score after wins by Eddy Merckx over Glenn Hoffman, Gerwin Valentijn over Jean van Erp and a draw between Martin Spoormans and Davy van Havere. Jef Philipoom was the only winner for Deurne. It all took place in a Hall with about 80 spectators.
Biljart Express scored 13 points out of 7 and achieved by far the best team average of 1.491. Deurne, Op de Meir and Kortrijkse follow with 10 out of 7. BC Deurne won the pre-played match against De Goeie Queue 8-0 on Tuesday-evening and is one point down, one match ahead on the rest of the bunch.
It is interesting to make a ranking of players that took the most match points for their team after 7 matches in the league. Jef Philipoom from BC Deurne heads the field after eight matches with seven wins and a draw. Frédéric Caudron won his first seven matches, but lost to Glenn Hofman last Tuesday. Peter Ceulemans lost his first match against Caudron, but then scored only wins. Eddy Leppens also won six out of seven matches. Eddy Merckx played five times for his team and won three times. Roland Forthomme gathered three victories and a draw in seven matches.
In the field of foreign players in the Belgian league, Gerwin Valentijn scored the best with six wins in seven matches. Frans van Kuyk won five times in seven matches, Barry van Beers won four out of seven and played one draw. Therese Klompenhouwer won three times and played one draw in seven matches. It is remarkable that Martin Horn, who won the World Cup in La Baule last Sunday and was the best of the world, is only in ninth place on the Belgian ranking. Jean Paul de Bruijn is the last in the standings with two victories from eight games.
The ranking of the foreign players:
1 Gerwin Valentijn 7-12
2 Frans van Kuyk 7-10
3 Barry van Beers 7-9
4 Dave Christiani 7-85 Christian Rudolph 7-8
6 Glenn Hofman 8-8
7 Therese Klompenhouwer 7-7
8 Jean van Erp 8-7
9 Martin Horn 7-5
10 Pierre Soumagne 6-4
11 Jean Paul de Bruijn 8-4.
Eddy Merckx was the best winner on the seventh match day with 50 in 21 innings, 2.380. The best daily team total was for Biljart Express as well with 1.547. The best runs came with 12 to the name of Barry van Beers. His team mate Iwan Stitischinsky, also from Op de Meir, made a run of eleven, Christian Rudolph and Ad Broeders 10.
The top match between Biljart Express and BC Deurne ended in a tight 5-3 win for Biljart Express. Eddy Merckx started against Glenn Hoffman 14-0 in 5 innings, the Dutchman came back 6-5-5-8 and led at the break 25-20, but Merckx was with small runs the first to finish 50-33 in 21. Jef Philipoom maintained his unbeaten status by a victory over Frans van Kuyk 50-44 in 29, even being 43-20 ahead. Gerwin Valentijn had an easy win agsinst Jean van Erp (42-29 in 23) and Martin Spoormans equalled by three vs Davy van Havere.
Mr. 100 Lier played a nice draw at Herentals, partly due to a hard-fought win by Peter Ceulemans against Martin Horn (50-49 in 43). BC Op de Meir defeated De Leug 8-0. De Witte Molen bested De Ploeg 6-2. De Goeie Queue defeated Zanzibar 6-2. Only Miatton took the match for Zanzibar against De Bruijn.
In the pre-played match for the eighth round, BC Deurne outplayed De Goeie Queue with the maximum score. Glenn Hoffman, who had a minor period with four losses in a row, could shine again and beat Caudron 50-44 in 23. Jef Philipoom won with a big margin against Jean Paul de Bruijn, Ludo Dielis and Davy van Havere against Jerry Hermans and Maarten Janssen.
Gerwin Valentijn, best scoring foreign player