ZUNDERT/UDEN - Sam van Etten's last point in his home match was accompanied by cries of joy inside the billiard hall. The North-Holland player faced one last, unexpected chance from Pierre Soumagne at the end of the match and dragged in the full win for his team from Zundert. That one carom (a round the table shot with chances for a kiss) made the 6-2 for Zundert against Cues&Darts instead of 5-3 or even 4-4. Therefore, Zundert grabbed the important third position in the rankings and Cues&Darts, which only saw Glenn Hofman win against Roland Forthomme, dropped to fourth place.
In this 19th round of the Kozoom league, it was the day on which the numbers 1 and 2, SIS Schoonmaak and Team Eekhoorn, kept each other in balance and on which, in the lower regions, Team Nachtwacht won the crucial match with Aartsbouw Sprundel. That result further increased the high tension. Two teams still have chances at the play-off positions, but there are only three games left for Dekker/AP Sprundel and Bousema/JBScues to make up a three-point gap.
The matches at the top in those final rounds which are being looked forward to include Cues&Darts-SIS Schoonmaak, Zundert-Dekker, Team Eekhoorn-Cues&Darts and on the final match day Topbiljart Zundert-SIS Schoonmaak and Dekker-Team Eekhoorn.
SIS Schoonmaak maintained itself by a narrow 4-4 against Team Eekhoorn, in which Dick Jaspers just took the full benefit against Nikos Polychronopoulos (40-37 in 26) and Frans van Kuyk levelled against Jean van Erp (40-23 in 27) before the break. Things got exciting after Eddy Merckx's match against Belgian champion Peter Ceulemans turned into a win (40-25 in 23), leaving Burgman against Hermans to bring the decision. The campsite boss himself, Jerry Hermans, dragged his team through the nerve-wracking moments and triumphed 40-36 in 29 innings. SIS Schoonmaak and Team Eekhoorn continue to lead the league table with 30 and 29 match points out of 19.
The most exciting match - and also the last of the afternoon - was the battle between Sam van Etten and Pierre Soumagne in Zundert. Zundert's home team led 4-2 after wins by Thorsten Frings against Ruben Legazpi (40-33 in 27) and Francis Forton against Huub Wilkowski (40-35 in 41). The best in quality was Glenn Hofman's against Roland Forthomme, in which the Hague player showed why he is the player in top form for weeks. Hofman kept Forthomme at a comfortable distance throughout the match, winning 40-22 in 15.
Then, all that was left was for Zundert to emerge victorious: Sam van Etten was put at a disadvantage in the starting phase by a run of 16 by Soumagne, who led 21-10 at the break. The Dutchman later fought back, including his run of 10 and had winning chances in sight at the end. The Frenchman even had a chance to win at 36-38 behind, when he started with a lucky shot, but had his last ball unhappily kissed. And at that 39-38, Sam van Etten became the overjoyed winner for his team. Soumagne then missed the equalizern, giving Zundert a 6-2 win.
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Dekker/AP Sprundel did what was required of the team to stay in the sub-top. The team beat Burgmans Biljarts after victories by Gerwin Valentijn (40-22 in 36 against Bart Ceulemans), Henk Blauwblomme (40-39 against Marco Janssen) and, in the final climax of the afternoon, Dave Christiani who beat Eddy Leppens 40-38 in 19, when the Belgian PBA player was stopped by an unlucky kiss on his way to the finish. So for Burgmans, only Anno de Kleine eventually won against Barry van Beers 40-29 in 18.
Jeffrey Jorissen was a winning front man for Bousema against Dion Nelin (40-36 in 32), but unfortunately all his teammates failed against DKM Tools. Ronny Lindemann, Davy van Havere and Jack Wijnen (with a narrow 40-39 against Frans van Schaik) gave DKM Tools a precious 6-2 win, giving the team a small jump in the rankings.
Dallinga.com won the match against J&F Auto's with Peter De Backer and Jean Paul de Bruijn top winners against Therese Klompenhouwer and Kay de Zwart. Herman van Daalen, J&F's number four, outclassed his teammates with a very nice win over Berry Dallinga: 40-20 in 33 a fine 22 innings.
Finally, there was the match in the lower parts of the Kozoom league. Team Nachtwacht and Aartsbouw Sprundel, both with Turkish frontrunneers, faced each other. Team Nachtwacht dragged out the win and is now equal in points (10) with Aartsbouw Sprundel. Omer Karakurt, Savas Bulut and Harrie van de Ven were the winners for Nachtwacht, Tom Peryn was the only one to score for Sprundel with a tight 40-39 against Frank Martens.
Glenn Hofman, riant win against Roland Forthomme, but a loss for his team