TURNHOUT - The departure of Eddy Merckx is apparently a sensitive loss for the Turnhout-based Biljart Express team. The former Belgian team champion unexpectedly started the new season with two losses and, together with Biljartpalace, is at the bottom of the rankings after two rounds of play. The leaders after those two sessions are BC Den Eik and BC Herstalien with 4 match points. Kurt Ceulemans, Roland Forthomme and Steven van Acker were the standouts of the second round. Roland Forthomme won with Herstalien the match played ahead against De Leug 6-2 and leads with the maximum 4 match points. BC Den Eik captured that lead thanks to a 6-2 win against Mister 100 Lier 2 thanks to wins for Jean van Erp against Paul Bruijstens (40-24 in 27), Davy van Havere over Marc Celen (40-35 in 32) and Brian van Genechten over Erwin Hen s (40-31 in 43).
Billiard Promotion Team and De Witte Molen, both winners in the first week of play, agreed an equal score against each other and share second place in the rankings. Young German Tom Löwe surprised with a win against Dutch champion Jean Paul de Bruijn (40-31 in 31), taking the draw for his team across the finishing line.
Danny Geysen and Peter Meersman were the winners for Billiard Promotion's home team against Francis Forton and Ad Broeders in 31 and 52 innings. Dirk Weeremans won, the same as Tom Löwe for De Witte Molen. The Belgian veteran doing so against Marc Janssen 40-35 in 43 innings.
Mister 100 Lier 1, which was a title contender until the final day last year, had a difficult start, first with a draw against its own second team, this week again with a shared win against Kortrijkse. Peter Ceulemans could not yet find his rhythm and was now beaten by Ronny Brants by 40-37 in 31 innings. Best man in the Mister 100 team was Kurt Ceulemans, who beat Martin Ravestyn 40-27 in 21 innings. Jerry Hermans won against Philippe Vandendriessche 40-29 in 27, Frédéric Beghin was the better of Bart Ceulemans 40-35 in 35.
The reigning champions from Op de Meir secured their first mtch points in the away match against TBA Biljartpalace. Jef Philipoom made clear that it was a hard-fought victory. The leader himself won against Kay de Zwart by two points (40-38 in 29), Barry van Beers (40-33 in 30 against Frank Martens) and Marc Roofthooft (40-25 in 27 against Erik Hendrickx) went a bit more smooth. Roland Uijtdewillegen almost dealt with a slump, but the Dutchman lost 40-39 to Ronny Daniels in 29 innings.
At KBC Bruges, Steven van Acker, Henk Blauwblomme and Bart Leys signed for the maximum match points against Biljart Express. Guy van Litsenborg, the team captain, took the only win for his team against Koen Saver (40-33 in 36). Steven van Acker beat Frans van Kuyk with a two points margin (40-38 in 23), Henk Blauwblomme did the same to Gerwin Valentijn, 40-38 in 27. Martin Spoormans had an off-day against Bart Leys: losing 40-19 in 29 innings.
Kurt Ceulemans, best player in the second round