ANDERNOS - The best French billiard player of this era will not show up in the final round of the Kozoom 3C Challenge Cup in four months' time. The Belgian outsider Peter De Backer pulled off a resounding stunt by winning the decisive set against Jérémy Bury, 10-8 after a thrilling 10-10 in the regular match. It was the first big sensation after four qualification sessions in the Kozoom arena in Andernos. The French champion Bury let himself be led to the rack by the 54-year old Belgian in a barrage. Peter De Backer, the player who stayed away from the international stages for years due to business pressures.
The climax took place in the final part in which Peter De Backer, after a hard fight over three days, seemed to lack the strength and spirit for a winning final sprint. In sight of the finish line, the Belgian struggled with a sudden black-out and lost a hard-won 10-8 lead. He was saved at a 10-10 score towards the end by two sets won by Jacob Haack Sörensen, a Dane who had been outplayed, and who had a kind of revival in the end.
The seemingly exhausted De Backer also started without confidence in the barrage and faced an 8-0 deficit in a match to 10 caroms. But it was not Peter De Backer who succumbed to the immense tension in that decisive battle. Jérémy Bury, a seasoned professional player after all, suddenly stopped scoring, missed five positions in a row and finally saw the ice-cold and amazing De Backer storm to victory.
The world was turned upside down during the climax of the three-day event. The Belgian substitute and outsider clenched his fist a few times, pointed proudly to the selfmade carbon cue with which he achieved this success and was beaming with happiness during the interview afterwards.
Peter De Backer is the fourth finalist with four preliminaries to go. The first three finalists are Ruben Legazpi, Dick Jaspers and Eddy Merckx.
The final ranking in Group F after the regular match:
1 Peter De Backer 10-143-119-1,201-6
2 Jérémy Bury 10-182-119-1,529-5
3 Jacob Haack Sörensen 4-141-115-1,226-8.
Peter De Backer, the surprising final player after his win over Bury
Jérémy Bury, desperately fighting against himself in the final part of the match