LIER - The winner Eddy Leppens was overwhelmed not by one, not by two, but by three standing ovations from the crowded arena in the Mister 100 after he won the Kimchi Superprestige. The spotlights and the cameras were focused on the organizer and player, for almost one hour. Eddy Leppens defeated Eddy Merckx in the final 40-33 in 20 innings. But apart from the extensive ceremony, there was another highlight that kept the audience in the stands for almost one hour: the wonderful speeches of Kurt Ceulemans, Eddy Leppens and Pierre Cornelissen, honorary chairman of the organizing BTS.
The winner himself, embraced dearly by his wife Andrea and three daughters after his last, winning carom, involved two people in his success. Kurt Ceulemans with his team, who took over the organization and created a masterpiece in two months. Leppens, with all his emotions: ,,I can not say, Kurt, how grateful I am for that.''
He continued with a striking thanks to Kimchi, the Korean mega sponsor in three cushion, who lent such an important helping hand as the main sponsor of the tournament. Eddy Leppens: ,,We were short of money, because we could not play in Lommel by a mutation at the international calendar at the last moment. Kurt Ceulemans said: come to us, we will do what we can. But still, we had to halve the prize moneyt for the players. When JongRyul Kim, the Kimchi owner, heart that, he said: no way, the players should be rewarded up, Kimchi will pay the deficit.''
Kurt and Kimchi thus, that's how Eddy Leppens concluded the evening in the Mister 100. But not after Pierre Cornelissen besides the winner announced the Player of the Year, chosen by the players (Frédéric Caudron, ahead of Eddy Merckx and Eddy Leppens) and the best young player under thirty (Marco Janssen).
And not after Kurt Ceulemans really focused the spotlights to his wonderful team and helpers in the Mister 100, from maid in the kitchen to the ballcleaner, from the billiards builder to the barmaid, from Raymond to Angéle, from the sponsor to the cleaning lady, from Kozoom to all the famous Belgian TV stations, with his well known sense of humor. ,,They were the best in the world this week.''
Billiard and public, usually not so charmed of long speeches at the end, enjoyed the ceremony until the very last end. Kurt Ceulemans: ,,We have organized the Superprestige with great pleasure, it was a magnificent tournament. We have to go full speed tomorrow, to break down the arena. Then I will return this Superprestige to the people of Lommel for next year.''
Leppens: ,,I had rather won the tournament, if I may be honest, in front of my home crowd. But this win, in the Mister 100, does not make me less happy. The Superprestige is the Superprestige, with all its top players a prestigious tournament, one of the most wonderful to win.''
The final, which he just had won, was a match marked by an exciting part in the middle. Leppens ran out to 18-8 just before the break, but with an impressive sprint (4 and 13) Merckx bowed the score to 25-18 in thirteen innings. Leppens: ,,I luckily could reply with ten, because with this Merckx, the pitbull of three cushion, you never know.'' Thanks to his run of ten, Leppens forced a 33-25 lead and eventually he had the best final shot (40-33 in 20).
The climax of the tournament, the clash between Eddy Leppens and Eddy Merckx, was preceded by two semi-finals with logical winners. Kurt Ceulemans closed his great tournament against Merckx, who won in 20 innings (40-21). And Jef Philipoom, infirm by three surgery last week, could not make it into the semi-finals against Leppens: 40-28 in 20.
The most striking fact of the qualifications was Frédéric Caudron's elimination. The world's number one is suffering a persistent cough already for four weeks and couldn't show his high class in the Superprestige. Kurt Ceulemans played the best Superprestige in his career in his own Mister 100: he never reached the semi-finals before.
The other four quarter final players, coming from the preliminaries were Peter De Backer, Steven van Acker, Kenny Miatton and Peter Ceulemans.
Eddy Leppens, embraced by 'his girls' after the winning carom.
Eddy Leppens shows his joy after he won the final match
Eddy Leppens, interviewed by Kozoom after the final match
The Kimchi Superprestige stage:
1 Eddy Leppens
2 Eddy Merckx
3 and 4: Kurt Ceulemans, Jef Philipoom.