VLAARDINGEN - The best comment on the fourth day of the Buffalo league came from Sander Jonen, who's looking for his better form already for some weeks. ,,I feel some little pains any time and I look like a cyclist who's hopeless and has thrown his bike into the ravine'', he searched for an explanation for his loss against Raymund Swertz 40-12 in 26 innings. The other and better conclusion must be that Raymund Swertz, the specialist in classical games, obviously has made a big step in three cushion. ,,I don't know if I can say that'', Swertz reacted, modestly as ever, after he continued his strong start of the competition against Sander Jonen with a 40 in 26 and a run of ten on the scoreboard.
His team, HCR Prinsen, showed itself a way too strong for TOVV 2, including Dick Jaspers' match: the best Dutch player in three cushion started with 13 against Birol Uymaz and therefor secured the 8-0 victory of his team. The Turkish player came back into the match after five misses and twice a six of Jaspers, Uymaz answered with 3, 2, 2, 7 and 5, to level the match at 28-28 in the thirteenth inning. The last word, however, came from Jaspers again, closing the match with two fours at 40-29 in 17.
Eureka Billard travelled to 't Hartje/Van Wanrooy for an unexpected tough match. The leader managed to share the points thanks to victories by Dave Christiani over Savas Bulut and John Tijssens against Ad Koorevaar. Davy van Havere shone for the home team with a win over Raimond Burgman in 34 innings. John Tijssens apparently had survived his wedding party the night before very well: in his match against Ad Koorevaar, the singer on his party, Tijssens recorded a 40-29 in 25 innings. Eureka Billard faced a 2-2 at the break after Volkan Cetin took a narrow win over Paul Bruijstens (40-37 in 48).
The Brabant team STZ Zundert kept the two match points at home after a 6-2 victory over TOVV/Royal Pro and joined Eureka on top of the list. Roland Forthomme was the best winner in his match against Martin Spoormans after an exciting final part, 40-36 in 26. Peter Ceulemans defeated Emilio Sciacca in 32 innings, Raymon Groot looked great in the Zundert team, Frans van Schaik impressed for TOVV against Barry van Beers, both were victorious in 27 innings.
Steven van Acker enjoyed the home crowd in Sluiskil with a wonderful equalizer (5), securing the 5-3 victory for his team against Burgmans Billiards. Marco Janssen was the star player of the afternoon. The number one player in the Burgmans team, last week announced as Belgian's under thirty promise of the year, was the glorious winner in the match against Frédéric Caudron. The flawless start of Janssen, 6, 5 and 8 in the first six innings (21-7 lead) opened the way to victory, however Caudron levelled to 25-25. Janssen then answered with a six, made the gap again and finally won 40-37 in 17.
Patrick Vasseur (in 33 innings) and Jean Paul de Bruijn (in 22) provided the 4-0 for Dallinga at the break. And after the 4-2 (by Janssen), Bert van Manen seemed to balance the match against Steven van Acker when he made 6 and 1 in the final stage and crossed the finish line at 40-35. The Belgian managed to show his class and fighting spirit with a five for the draw and the victory for his team.
Buffalo.nl suffered another loss and Glenn Hofman concluded that his team is not longer one of the title contender after four rounds. A1 Biljarts defeated the Hague team, that played for its home crowd, 6-2, including Eddy Merckx who defeated Glenn Hoffman (40-27 in 22), Gerwin Valentijn's victory over Jean van Erp (40-30 in 25) and Henk Blauwblomme who bested Herman van Daalen. The only success for the champion team came from Jeffrey Jorissen: 40-25 in 29 against Martien van der Spoel.
Bousema and Eekhoorn shared the points in Lochem, where Jack Wijnen was an excellent substitute for Kurt Ceulemans, beating Markus Galla 40-14 in 26 innings. Jerry Hermans, the season's revelation so far, bested Stefan Spilleman (40-12 in 26), Therese Klompenhouwer took a great win over Kenny Miatton 40-26 in 34 and Stefan Galla won the match on centre court: the German beat Frans van Kuyk 40-32 in 39.