3-Cushion
The match poster was nice enough for Dick Jaspers to hand out a moral knock out. The prestige of the best UMB player against the almost best PBA player was at stake when the Dutch number one suddenly and unexpectedly faced Belgian Eddy Leppens. The match turned into a demonstration by Jaspers, who was unleashed against Leppens in a no chance match. The comfortable 38-20 lead was only made milder by two sloppy misses by the Dutchman in the closing innings. That made the score 40-25 in 17 innings after Jaspers once again showed a glimpse of his mastery in his one-off appearance for SIS Schoonmaak.
That was the most eye-catching game, but what else was there to enjoy in the world's strongest team competition? Nikos Polychronopoulos finished his 40 caroms in 15 innings (2.667 average), Eddy Merckx 40 in 16 (2.500), Dick Jaspers so in 17 (2.353) and Ruben Legazpi in 19 (2.105). But also, the match between Eddy Merckx and Anno de Kleine was a high level meeting, because Merckx made a run of 14 and De Kleine 11.
But in the end, there was an even better match. Peter Ceulemans outclassed the world players with the best match of this 18th match day. He won by 40 points in 12 innings, which he had also done a week earlier in the Netherlands. How remarkable was that for Team Eekhoorn's sovereign Belgian top player, who had a setback in between in the cup final this week. The erratic form surged again this Sunday, as Ceulemans won over Thorsten Frings 40-16 in 12 (3.333 on average).
Javier Palazón, the top player in PBA, showed up in the Dutch league for the Cues&Darts team this day. The Spaniard won his match, but needed a narrow escape against Gerwin Valentijn, who stranded one point from the finish in the equalizer: 40-39 in 32. Glenn Hofman, by the way, was again a splendid leading man for his team: the Hague player beat Dave Christiani 40-27 in 21.
The leaders made no missteps on this matchday. SIS Schoonmaak beat Burgmans Biljarts, among others due to the victories by Jaspers and Merckx 0-8. And because Jean van Erp and Raimond Burgman won in 22 and 24 innings, SIS finished with a formidable team-average: 2.025. That tends towards a record score in the premier league.
Team Eekhoorn kept the winning points at home by a 6-2 against Topbiljart Zundert: Polychronopoulos beat Sergio Jimenez (40-19 in 16), Ceulemans against Frings was 40-16 in 12, Kurt Ceulemans against Francis Forton was 40-21 in 28 and only Frans van Kuyk lost to Sam van Etten 40-21 in 28. Cues&Darts lost one game in a winnable match: Huub Wilkowski lost to Henk Blauwblomme 40-37 in 38.
Bousema won the home match against Team Nachtwacht 5-3 thanks in part to Gökhan Salman's equal score against Erwin Kivits in 28 innings. Savas Bulut was the best winner playing Johan Loncelle 40-24 in 25. J&F Auto and DKM Tools kept the score balanced in the lower regions. Ronny Lindemann and Davy van Havere won for DKM Tools, Therese Klompenhouwer beat Roland Uijtdewillegen (40-29 in 26 and Herman van Daalen was the better of Jack Wijnen.
Aartsbouw Sprundel and Dallinga.com played a draw (4-4).
Dick Jaspers, a great match to beat Eddy Leppens
Ruben Legazpi in the spotlights for Cues&Darts
Eddy Merckx on of the best on this match day