ANDERNOS - The frontrunner Jérémy Bury has one set advantage over Peter De Backer after the first day: 4-3. Jacob Haack Sörensen from Danmark finished in the shadow of the two leaders with one set won. But anyway, it looks like the fourth session in the Kozoom Challenge will be more exciting than the previous sessions. The Frenchman, top favourite in this group, started with three set wins, but Peter De Backer brought the match back into balance (3-3). The final score of the day: Bury 4, De Backer 3, Haack Sörensen 1.
What a strange scenario was it this first day! Frenchman Bury immediately set the tone in the first three sets. He scored a nice 30 points in 10 innings, despite the threat of Dane Haack-Sörensen in two sets, 7 points in set 1 and 8 in set 3 (the highest run).
Then it was Peter De Backer's turn in the next three sets. In sets 4, 5 and 6 the Belgian managed to overtake the Frenchman by making the difference at the end of the sets: Sörensen missed 3 set points in set 4, Bury missed a set point in set 5 and Sörensen missed 5 set points in set 6. Each time, De Backer seized the slightest opportunity to knock his two opponents to the finish. From this set 4 the game became more difficult, the defence became systematic, especially by the Belgian.
The challenger after that first match day in the Kozoom arena feels far from hopeless for the final win. Peter De Backer (54, from Aalst) has been a feared opponent of the French top player Bury for many years. ''I'm not afraid of him, certainly not in this system, where everything is possible'', said the billiard shop holder from Aalst, who has specialised in the much-talked-about carbon shafts with his name PDB.
In recent years, De Backer beat his French rival in this group during matches in the World Cup in Blankenberge and in earlier years twice in the World Cup in Hurghada, Egypt. ''All the matches we play together are exciting and unpredictable. So why shouldn't I have a chance to win this group?''
Moreover, Kozoom gives a kind of coming home. Peter De Backer has played competition in Andernos for more than ten years, in a classic team with, among others, Francis Connesson, Bernard Baudoin and the French Greek Nicolas Gerassimopoulos. And in the three-cushion teams under the names Kozoom and Andernos with Roland Forthomme, Marc Boignères and Francis Connesson. ''We became French champions and played in the European competition, so I have wonderful memories. Unfortunately, Corona prevented me from returning last year, because I still want to play for Kozoom, even if it's only a few times a year. But to be honest, with the business always taking up more and more time, especially online in this Corona era, it is getting more difficult to play billiards.''
The high class, however, is not lost on the player who has been on the podium of the three-cushion World Championships three times and has achieved great success in the one cushion discipline. He showed his qualities on the first day of his group with Bury and Sörensen. The Belgian's average is the lowest of the three, but more important is that De Backer, with his fighting spirit, is only one set behind Bury. ''Yes, of course I also thought that the 3-0 lead of the Frenchman could turn out into a one-man show, but fortunately I was able to recover. Especially in the sets he played behind me. I was able to make it impossible for him to play. I could see him getting discouraged by the positions I left on the table.''
The score after one day still leaves all possibilities open. Jacob Haack Sörensen only won the penultimate set of the day, but the Dane had more chances to win a set, among others in the 6th set in which he missed five set balls and De Backer eventually won 10-9.
The set results on the first day:
Set 1: Bury 10, Sörensen 7, De Backer 6
Set 2: Bury 10, De Backer 2, Sörensen 0
Set 3: Bury 10, Sörensen 8 (series 8), De Backer 0
Set 4: De Backer 10, Sörensen 9, Bury 6
Set 5: De Backer 10, Bury 9, Sörensen 7
Set 6: De Backer 10, Sörensen 9, Bury 4
Set 7: Sörensen 10, De Backer 7, Bury 1
Set 8: Bury 10, Sörensen 1, De Backer 1.
The standings:
1 Jérémy Bury 4-62-44-1,409-7
2 Peter De Backer 3-46-43-1,070-6
3 Jacob Haack Sörensen 1-51-41-1,244-8.