BLANKENBERGE - Before the warming up for his last group match, he had a big smile on his face. Nothing could go wrong for Eddy Leppens, he was sure to advance to the last sixteen, as was Frédéric Caudron in the other group. With two of these Belgian giants of the game at the tables, expectations were high. Caudron, the reigning world champion, had a lackluster start, Leppens kicked off in phenomenal style. In the morning, he beat Marc Celen in 13 innings, in the afternoon against Francis Forton, he ran 16 from the points and won in 20 innings.
Leppens scales the heights in the opening days of this championship, but he is the first to realize how hard it is to win the titles. For a player of his caliber, it has been too long. ,,I don't even remember'', he said before his third match, staring into the unknown. ,,It must have been a title in the free game.''
It dates back to an edition of Blankenberge in 2000, where he won the title ahead of Patrick Niessen and Philippe Deraes. Fourteen years ago, and since then Leppens has mostly brought home silver medals in all disciplines. Last year, it was a final against Roland Forthomme in the king's discipline, in which he ended second on five occasions in the past ten years.
What are Leppens' ambitions in this year, that sees him participating in five of the six disciplines?
,,I have the form to win in all of them, otherwise I would not play, but we all know how hard it is and with whom we are competing here. My least event would probably be 71/2, where it is increasingly difficult to be competitive to 250 points, without much practice.'' He has only spent a few hours to work on the technique, he says, working towards the Multi's. The top priority is of course 3-cushion, where he has shone so often in recent months. But he too may wonder: what is form, what does it mean to shine?
,,At the Christmas tournament in Zundert, I was eliminated when I lost big, to Barry van Beers. He made his first 40 points in 11 innings, what can I do short of taking away his cue? Later, I trail 20-1 against Glenn Hofman, and I still win.'' This sunday, in the Dutch league, Leppens had a poor start with 13 in 15. He then produced ten, six and a closing run of fourteen. On his first day of this Belgian championship, there was that opening run of sixteen.
,,It is as if you do not realize that you are on a big run, but it is no coincidence that so many are made these days. On Sunday, Jeffrey Jorissen ran a 20, Raimond Burgman a 15.''
The explanation is, that position play is so much more advanced then it was in the old days. ,,Still, you need the run of the ball. No matter how well I play, I never know exactly how my ball will arrive to hit the third ball, and that is what you depend on for high runs. You sometimes are fortunate, sometimes your luck is bad.''
Eddy Leppens and Frédéric Caudron only needed two rounds to be sure of advancing to the last sixteen. Caudron beat Mathy Monnissen (40-33 in 27), Martin Spoormans (40-25 in 30) en Bart Ceulemans (40-20 in 24). Eddy Leppens got the better of Marc Celen 40-22 (13), Francis Forton in 20 (40-24) and Patrick Kesteloot 40-27 in 33.
Francis Forton was second in the flight, thanks to wins over Patrick Kesteloot and Marc Celen. Martin Spoormans defeated Mathy Monnissen for the second place behind Caudron: 40-31 in 27.
Patrick Niessen played his first free game match against Andy de Bondt, finishing with a flourish (run of 394, 400-87 in 2) and in the evening proved once again to be a sportsman. In his 71/2 match against Johan Claesen, on his way to a flawless run of 100 around the anchor, he corrected the referee and called restez dedans on himself.
Patrick Niessen closed the evening with a perfect exhibition in the balk-line 47/1 against Philippe Deraes: 200-61 in 4 innings with 168 to the finish. ,,I don't like to say it for myself, but this run was really perfect with only two times 'dedans' in the entire run'', said Niessen.