ANKARA - The Belgian tricolour has been waving proudly over the European three cushion championships in Ankara for a few days already, only one German and one Dutchman can still disrupt the champions gala. Jeffrey Jorissen even prevented a Belgian hat-trick by eliminating Peter Ceulemans this Saturday evening. Eddy Merckx and Roland Forthomme could already watch the last session with joy as winners of the first quarter-finals. Martin Horn later joined the players field for the final day at the same time as Jeffrey Jorissen. But almost three Belgian star players were on the podium on Sunday, after Eddy Merckx and Roland Forthomme had knocked down two feared leaders of global three-cushion.
Eddy Merckx was in a formidable form against Torbjörn Blomdahl, the title holder, whom he put on the rack 50-34 in 26. Roland Forthomme fought a stunning battle with Marco Zanetti. And as in his previous match against Devogelaere, Forthomme again had the best final shot. The Belgian went through the finish line as first in the high-class match: 50-47 in 23/22, for Forthomme 2.173, for Zanetti 2.136 average.
So two Belgians were already in the semi-finals at that point. Peter Ceulemans, the third, ran into Jeffrey Jorissen, the revelation at this European Championship, the Dutchman who had just eliminated his illustrious countryman Dick Jaspers onthe early day on Saturday in the second session of the eith finals. Jorissen, a billiard player with Hague blood, continues to overwhelm himself. He did so again against Peter Ceulemans, especially with a run of 11 and a fairly safe lead at 41-23 in 15. The Belgian responded one more time with counter attacks of 5 and 5, came a little closer at 47-33, but could not escape Jorissen’s knock-out: 50-40 in 21.
Martin Horn was even slightly better in his match against Ruben Legazpi, Tasdemir's conqueror, who was now up against strong German steel. Horn was the best in average in this round: he opened the attack with 12 against Legazpi and finished 50-35 in 20: 2,500 average.
Matches for Sunday in the semi-finals:
Sunday 11.00 (Western Europe 10.00): Eddy Merckx-Roland Forthomme
Sunday 13.30 (Western Europe 12.30): Martin Horn-Jeffrey Jorissen
Final at 18.00 local time (in d17.00 in the Netherlands and Belgium).
Eddy Merckx in his match with Torbjörn Blomdahl, while Marco Zanetti in the back ground is beaten by Roland Forthomme
Martin Horn, again great winner with high average
Jeffrey Jorissen stopped Jaspers and in the late hours Peter Ceulemans
Roland Forthomme the better of Marco Zanetti
Best 16 knockout (overview):
The Dutch clash earlier gets a sensational winner. Dick Jaspers, best Dutch billiard player ever, is not in his best day, Jeffrey Jorissen, long time struggling with his form, is playing like reborn, the match gets a totally unexpected outcome, as Jorissen always has the best of the match after 11-5, 19-5 and 22-10 in 10 and Jaspers is unable to change tack. The top favorite bows to the outsider with 50-32 in 26.
At least as startling is Spaniard Ruben Legazpi's stunning take-off against Turkish top favorite Tayfun Tasdemir. Legazpi starts with 13, makes 7 a few innings later and leads 27-7 and 32-10 in 7 innings. He doesn’t give that lead away, winning 50-20 in 19/18 (2.631 average).
Torbjörn Blomdahl's kickstart puts Sergio Jimenez under pressure right away. The match only goes one way, the Swede running far away and winning 50-20 in 22. The best match in this session of four comes off the cue of Eddy Merckx, who encounters a driven Jérémy Bury, has to chase after the starting phase, but then thunders over Bury with lightning speed. The Belgian's lead is soon comfortable and goes to a 50-32 win in 18.
Marco Zanetti against Berkay Karakurt is seen as the most wonderful poster at this stage, as the Turkish world champion in the nation teams with Tasdemir is in a super form. However, it did not prevent Zanetti from dictating the rhythm and defending a safe margin in the closing stages: 50-39 in 27. Martin Horn keeps on delivering high averages, including against Arnim Kahofer, who is surely playing a superb tournament, but is called to order against the German with 50-32 in 22/23.
Peter Ceulemans robs the Turks of all favorites, as after Tasdemir and Karakurt, Yilmaz Özcan also has to leave the stage. The Turk comes up half short against Ceulemans: 50-25 in 26. Three Belgians thus advance to the top eight, because in the longest game of that round Roland Forthomme wins the battle with Mikaël Devogelaere, which fascinates until the end in terms of score and is decided by Forthomme with a closing 4: 50-47 in 37.