HAARLO - The Spaniard Esteve Mata and the Swiss Xavier Gretillat were already sure of a place in the semi finals of the balk-line 71/2. Henri Tilleman and Patrick Niessen were seeded as the numbers three and four of the two groups in the preliminary rounds this morning. Niessen finished with the highest average: 69.90. Mata was a close second: 68.18.
Patrick Niessen has obtained the highest run over three matches too: the Belgian finished in his match against Raul Cuenca with the maximum run of 250. After that session Niessen lost against Gretillat (250-196 in 5), but in his last appearance in the preliminaries against Marek Faus he could secure his place in the semis: 250-125 in 3.
On Saturday at 12.00 the semi-finals will be played between Esteve Mata and Patrick Niessen on one table and Xavier Gretillat and Henri Tilleman on the other.
Gretillat remained unbeaten in Group A, but finished due to a slow start against Faus (25.00 average) on 39.47 general. The Swiss surprised the specialist Niessen in the second match with a match in five innings and in the final round Gretillat was at his best against Faus (three innings, 250-125). Raul Cuenca gambled no points in this group, Marek Faus only won his match against the Spaniard.
Esteve Mata was supreme in Group B, in which he only had in his match against Tilleman a tough finish. The Dutchman finished in four innings with 212 caroms, Esteve Mata, the reigning European champion in this discipline, continued his rush to be the number one in this group. He defeated in the first round Frenchman Xavier Devogelaere in three innings and later on Peter Volleberg in only four innings: 250-177.
Henri Tilleman still needed a victory against Devogelaere to reach the semi finals. The Dutchman fulfilled his mission by defeating his opponent with 250-115 in seven innings.
The semi-finals:
Mata-Niessen
Gretillat-Tilleman