BERLICUM – The first knockout at the Dutch Masters came from Raimond Burgman, who punished Barry van Beers's weak final part with a masterful 8-point finish. Jeffrey Jorissen averaged the best of sixteen players on the first day at the Dutch three cushion championship at the Benelux Theatre in Berlicum. There is a nice tradition that the most prestigious year’s tournament is assigned a group of death in the preliminary rounds. Jeffrey Jorissen, Adrie Demming, and Jean Paul de Bruijn will compete for two spots in the quarter finals in the coming days. The main contenders for the title emerged relatively unscathed from the generally unfamiliar opening matches on Day 1.

The stunning match on that first day was between Jeffrey Jorissen and Jean Paul de Bruijn, won by the former Hague native with a decisive 11 in the penultimate inning: 40-34 in 23 innings. The first winners in the group will meet today, Thursday, in the second sessions of the group rounds. Jeffrey Jorissen plays Adrie Demming for a near-certain qualification, Dick Jaspers plays Sam van Etten, Glenn Hofman plays Raimond Burgman, and Jean van Erp vs Dave Christiani.

In Group A, Dick Jaspers edged out Raymund Swertz in the middle stages with short runs. Swertz had a minor finish and was defeated by Jaspers with 3 and 6: 40-26 in 27. Sam van Etten seized his chance to take the lead against Erwin Kivits (16-1 in 12) and was never threatened again: 40-29 in 34. Raimond Burgman trailed Barry van Beers throughout. The Brabant native wasn’t a good finisher and was outplayed by a winning run. Glenn Hofman launched an offensive attack against Kay de Zwart with 7, 6, and 5 (23-10) and was later rewarded for his efforts.

Dave Christiani had his moment of strength with a 10 in the 20th inning in the middle of a five-out period. Harry van de Ven came close with a six. It wasn't enough, as Christiani won 40-31 in 32. Jean van Erp launched his attack in Group C against Huub Wilkowski with 4, 7, and 4 around the 12th inning and struck the shot that later secured his victory, 40-31 in 26. Jeffrey Jorissen took the first spoils against Jean Paul de Bruijn and, for now, has to battle Adrie Demming, a relative newcomer to the Masters stage, for first place after two days.

The Masters, featuring the Dutch elite, is usually the stage for news about transfers and teams in these first weeks of the year. Raimond Burgman, a four-time Masters winner, has already been open about his move to the Paperclip team, where Puck van Aart is in charge and Dick Jaspers is the captain. The 60-year-old Burgman is ready for a new adventure and senses that the SIS team hasn't yet received any guarantees from Carl Verhoeven, the sponsor. "I've had wonderful years there, but I received an offer from Paperclip during this period, when there's no guarantee at SIS. This is an attractive opportunity for me to accept the new challenge."

Gerwin Valentijn (58)'s story contrasts with this. The Brabant native himself announced the news on Sunday: "I'm going to play for Paperclip because Puck van Aart made me an offer." Gerwin Valentijn was free to go because RCN, also with Dave Christiani, Henk Blauwblomme, and Philippe Vandendriessche, is ending its sponsorship. Two days later, Valentijn withdrew. "I'm not going to Paperclip, unfortunately, but I feel the pressure of such a strong team. I'm going to train less and want to play for a team nearby."

Dave Christiani had already announced his transfer to the new team with Frédéric Caudron, which will play at De Eekhoorn. Jean van Erp is currently fully focused on the Masters and doesn't want to preempt matters with SIS and Carl Verhoeven.

The team boss and sponsor, Carl Verhoeven, admits that he is in an exploratory phase, lookinh his options with his company. "It's quite possible that we'll close down, the team, the billiards business, because it's well known that we can't find the necessary sponsors and that it's difficult to make the company profitable."

After his spectacular debut in top-level billiards, Carl Verhoeven also has such a sense of honor that he wants to say goodbye in style. "I'd prefer to complete two more years so I can reach ten. I also realize all sorts of things are happening in the Dutch league, with teams disappearing or already gone. With players leaving and all sorts of rumors about new transfers. I'm not getting involved just yet. We'll decide in two months. I had hoped Burgman would wait; I know Jean van Erp isn't acting hastily, although there's already some news circulating about him."

Of course, things aren't what they once were with the prestigious SIS project. Dick Jaspers and Eddy Merckx have left, forcing the top team to scale back its ambitions. "We're going through a difficult time, results are disappointing, and a tremendous amount of time and energy is being invested. For now, I'm saying: we might go on.."