BLANKENBERGE - The title holder Frédéric Caudron will get the opposition in the discipline one cushion from a player nobody had expected. Maarten Janssen (26) from Eksel in Limburg has raised himself as one of the contenders for a podium place. He defeated Patrick Niessen 150-64 today, on the first day he beat Johan Devos 150-131.
The decision will fall on Sunday morning, when Caudron and Janssen meet in the last one cushion match. But of course Patrick Niessen must be seen as one of the players who's in the race for the medals. Eddy Leppens has played only one match: he lost without having any chance in his match against Caudron.
The discipline one cushion is the area where Caudron is unbeatable for many years in the Belgian championship. The European champion, a title he took recently in the Spanish Cervera, was the best in Belgium sixteen times, only a few times interrupted by Eddy Leppens and Peter de Backer.
The tournament record is also in the hands of Caudron: in 2007 he finished with 27.27 average, when he was in Blankenberge on the stage with Peter de Backer and Patrick Niessen.
Raymond Ceulemans, Ludo Dielis and Emile Wafflard were Belgian celebrities in the past in the global cushion.
The European record is held by Jean Paul de Bruijn, who played 25.86 in 2006 in Kortrijk. Caudron played his Belgian record (27.27) in 2007 during his historic Grand Slam.