kozoom in a thrilling sprint to French finals

ANDERNOS - The Saint Quentin team had already qualified for the final round at the French three cushion championship for teams. In Group A, the teams of Kozoom (Dick Jaspers) and Soissons (Eddy Merckx) battled for the second qualification spot last Friday evening. Kozoom won the match 6-2 and will play in the cross-finals against Andernos. Saint Quentin faces Albert in the other semi-final.

Defending champion Soissons grabbed next to the qualification due to the 6-2 defeat against Kozoom. The home team with Dick Jaspers as superb leader (winning against Eddy Merckx 40-13 in 9 innings, 4.444 on average) and good old Francis Connesson as a fantastic team mate, played an exceptional match: Kozoom finished with 2.292 general average, presumably a French record. Soissons finished with 1,676.

In the first session, Francis Connesson created the outside chance against Martin Horn by starting 9-14. At the break, the German had played only one inning and was trailing 4-23 at half-time! Francis Connesson (74) finished his match in 15 innings with a score of 40-21, averaging 2.667 for this grand champion. He gave his teammates a boost for victory from the start of the match. At the other table, Marc Boingnères played another excellent match and led 27-19 against Pierre Soumagne. The BC Soissons president came back with a magnificent run of 13 and took back control of the match 32-27. Marc Boingnères held firm and with a final run of 5 left his opponent 40-35 in 23 innings (1,739).

The Kozoom team therefore led 4-0 at the break and needed one more point for the match win, which would mean qualification for the French semi-finals.

Dick Jaspers soon left no doubt at the start of his match against Eddy Merckx. The Dutchman scored a quick 10 and went into the break 23-3 in four innings. The final victory was getting closer and closer.

At the same time, Jérémy Bury (Soissons) also started very strongly and led by more than 15 points at the break of his match against Nikos Polychronopoulos. The rest is clear: Dick Jaspers delivered a formidable performance, winning 40-13 in 9 innings (4,444), the best game of this championship for all groups. The fans were elated, qualification for the Final Four was assured. The Billard Club of Andernos has just qualified its two teams, Kozoom and Andernos, for the French final. Jérémy Bury saved his team's honor by beating Nikos Polychronopoulos 40-29 in 18 (2,222/1,611). The Greek's final points contributed to the French record of team average over a match with 2,292!

Soissons has no reason to be ashamed of his performance with 1,676 in this match. The team missed qualification for the final probably stems from one of their two losses against Saint-Quentin due to strong opposition from Robinson Morales and Johan Loncelle earlier in the season.

The Kozoom team was not expected to finish like this, as Kozoom had only two points (one win and two losses) from the first half. Thanks to the six points the team collected in the return games (three wins out of three matches), they were finally able to qualify at the expense of the reigning French champions Soissonnais.

Group leader Saint-Quentin consolidated its place by winning the 4 matches against Morangis, with an exceptional match of their leader Robinson Morales. The Colombian-born player beat Jean Reverchon 40-13 in 11 (3,636) and maintained his excellent team performance. Johan Loncelle, Kevin Perrotin and Tangui Duriez sealed the club's excellent season by beating Thomas Le Coat, Marc Vicari and Pierre-Yves Morel in 29, 61 and 53 innings. Saint-Quentin played an average of 1.038, Morangis averaged 0.766.

The rankings in Group A (match points, individual points, average, highest series):

1 Saint-Quentin: 10-31-1,167-12

2 Kozoom: 8-32-1,250-14

3 Soissons: 6-29-1,367-13

4 Morangis: 0-4-0,828-9.

Dick Jaspers was the excellent leading player in Kozoom's team with a win over Eddy Merckx: 40-13 in 9

The eight players of the teams Kozoom and Soissons in their after-match