Merckx and Niessen champions in Belgium

BLANKENBERGE - The Belgian gold medal in three-cushion is again hanging around Eddy Merckx' neck. The multiple winner at the Multi's was Patrick Niessen, who won the maximum five titles in the classic disciplines. The championship in the Blankenberge casino ended this Sunday in the late afternoon with the main finals. Danielle Le Bruyn took the championship in ladies three cushion after an exciting match with Jaimie Buelens. The championship in three-cushion not yet offered Merckx a ticket for the World championship for national teams. There, in Viersen, Belgium will be represented by Peter De Backer and Wesley de Jaeger. Eddy Merckx laid a flawless path on the way to his title. The new Belgian champion, successor to Peter De Backer, even moved up four places in the world rankings because of his championship: from 9 to 5. Merckx came through the group phase unscathed and then defeated Johan Loncelle, Roland Forthomme, Peter Ceulemans and finally Jef Philipoom 40-19 in 15 innings. ''I can look back on my championship with pleasure, because actually I was not in danger in any game and won them all with a rather large margin,'' Merckx commented afterwards.

The Belgian champion, who won his 11th title, leaves today, Monday, together with Dutch champion Dick Jaspers for South Korea for a long marathon of matches in a trio of lucrative tournaments. The Belgian title match was a perfect preparation. ''I managed to make many high runs, which allowed me to leave my opponents behind every time,'' Merckx said. ''Moreover, between the matches I could relax well and prepare for the weeks to come. We were at the coast all days, where I had a good time with the godchildren.''

His analysis of the final days: ''The final had no tension for the audience, because I made a run of 13 right in the 3rd inning and got ahead 16-2 against Jef Philipoom. That lead increased to 40-19 with runs of 7 and 6. Before that, on Saturday, I beat Roland Forthomme 40-19 in 16. Roland was ahead at the start, but I equalized just before the break and finished well. My match in the semi-final against Peter Ceulemans started well, I got off to a good start with a run of 11 and was able to play relaxed. Peter only came back at the end.''

With an average of just over 1.800, Merckx can be very satisfied with his performance at the Multi's. ''I am happy with my rise in the world ranking, where I was 8th at first, but had dropped to 9th because of Sayginer's Turkish title. However, we are very close together in the top ten. The Belgian championship, where I fell in the quarter-finals last year by penalties, now brings me to the maximum 30 points.So I passed five players in the rankings.''

The Belgian federation has reversed the new rules for qualifying for the World championship in Viersen. That means last year's championship counts for sending the Belgian team. Then, Peter De Backer went to the title in the final against Wesley de Jaeger. These two players go to Viersen for Belgium. Qualification for the European Championship, on the other hand, is determined over two Multi's. Eddy Merckx and Jef Philipoom will play in Antalya as the Belgian team in seven weeks

Furthermore, the Belgian championship was most of all a one-man show by Patrick Niessen in the balk-line games and one cushion. The classical specialist won the free game, one cushion and the balk-line disciplines 47/2, 47/1 and 71/2. As a result, he stood on the highest podium of these Multi's five times.

Niessen won the free game with 6 match points and 92.46 ahead of Maarten Janssen. The champion was the only one with the maximum run of 400. In the balk-line 47/2, Niessen finished with the maximum 8 match points and 83.33 ahead of Maarten Janssen 4 points and 32.52. The 47/1 had an exciting final: Patrick Niessen and Peter De Backer both finished at 6 points, Niessen had a better average: 22.16 against 14.26. In the 71/2, Patrick Niessen was again unapproachable with the maximum 8 match points. The average was 36.36, second was Maarten Janssen with 4 points and 21.55. The one cushion also gave Niessen the maximum score: 8 match points and 6.95 average. Silver was for Francis Forton with 4 points and 5.25.

Danielle Le Bruyn and Jaimie Buelens made it a real thriller for the ladies in the three-cushion. The title went to Danielle Le Bruyn, who with eight titles is now the best lady in the rankings. ,,We both had 7 titles before this championship, so now I passed Jaimie with one more title.''

''The oldies are still doing well,'' Danielle (65) spoke proudly afterwards. She had to go deep to claim the title. ''We were tied after the first two games, Jaimie and I, with a slightly better average for me. Then, in the two games against each other, Jaimie won the first 27-20 in 41 innings. I had to win the final and also finish with a better average. I was fortunately able to do that. Jaimie was always ahead in that final match, but I got ahead after a run of four. We both had some luck, but in the end I was able to finish it off. Jaimie needed 3 in the equalizer, but only made the break shot. We therefore ended equal in match points, but I had 0.583 on average against 0.565 for Jaimie Buelens.''

The junior under 25 title went to Nick Rosier with 6 match points and 0.730 ahead of Tim van Hoeck with 6 points and 0.491. The 5 pins showed a win for Ismaele Trentino ahead of Peter Debaes. Eric Daelman was the winner in artistic billiards ahead of Walter Bax, Steve Wilms and Erik Vervliet.

The knock-out results three-cushion, men:

Quarter-finals:
Eddy Merckx-Roland Forthomme 40-19 in 16
Peter Ceulemans-Fréderic Mottet 40-37 in 31
Jef Philipoom-Francis Forton 40-39 in 29
Kurt Ceulemans-Henk Blauwblomme 40-38 in 44

Semifinals:
Eddy Merckx-Peter Ceulemans 40-28 in 28
Jef Philipoom-Kurt Ceulemans 40-39 in 22

Final: Eddy Merckx-Jef Philipoom 40-19 in 15.

The three cushion podium with Eddy Merckx, Jef Philipoom and Peter Ceulemans

Patrick Niessen, the absolute star at the Multi's (middle)with Peter De Backer and Maarten Janssen

The three ladies on top with Danielle Le Bruyn the 2023 winner

The referees for the final days