The youngest Ceulemans is a champion in Scotch Double

04/03/2024

Published by frits bakker

Bart Ceulemans and his jump of joy after the winning point

ROSMALEN - The last carom was one to cheer about for a long time in the arena. 40-year-old Bart Ceulemans, still called ’Bartje’ by friends and fans, gave the eight-team battle for the Dutch Cup a sensational start that turned the tournament upside down right on this first day. The cup holder and top favorite SIS Schoonmaak had a false start against Burgmans Biljarts and had to fight out a Scotch Double to continue after the 4-4 in the regular games. The other Brabant team, featuring Anno de Kleine and Bart Ceulemans, provided a resounding surprise, beating Eddy Merckx and Jean van Erp 15-8 in 6 and 5 innings. The second winner was Cues&Darts/Xtreme, which won 6-2 over Dekker Keukens and had its flawless leader in Glenn Hofman with 2,000 on average.

The smallest of the Ceulemans stronghold showed his laughing face after his team's Scotch Double with his cheerful eyes and made a jump of joy after making the last and winning carom. ''We had a great start to the Scotch Double,'' he later spoke with his Belgian tongue. ’’We won the toss, started 3 and two times 5, that's obviously a sensitive blow.'' And indeed, SIS Schoonmaak was blown off course and in the pursuit came no further than two innings of 2 and one of 4.

So, gone were the chances for SIS Schoonmaak to win the double this year, a disillusion that lingered in the deathly quiet dressing room. In that small room, Bart Ceulemans talked excitedly about the holiday at the coast he had booked with his brother Peter (Team Eekhoorn) and their wives. ’’I heard from Peter a few weeks ago that he had to leave earlier from the coast because he had to play for the Dutch cup. I hadn't even thought about it, but later I had to say: oups, I have to leave for the cup myself as well. It would only be for one day, I thought, but now that we won against SIS Schoonmaak, we have to come back again.''

It was a totally unexpected start, because SIS Schoonmaak against Burgmans Biljarts, that was a done deal before anyway. Anno de Kleine told: ’’We have to fight for match points almost every week in the league, because everything is so evenly matched. And it all can happen. We lost 8-0 to Dallinga at home this weekend and now we win against SIS Schoonmaak. But that is billiards for the cup, isn't it, in short sets and a Scotch Double to decide the game.''

Why the Scotch Double?

SIS Schoonmaak trailed 4-0 in the first session, as Raimond Burgman lost to Marco Janssen (2-0 in sets) and Martien van der Spoel lost to Johan Royers 2-0 (15-13 in the third set). That put the cup holder under pressure as Eddy Merckx and Jean van Erp needed to win against Anno de Kleine and Bart Ceulemans in the second session.

They did what was wanted: Merckx beat De Kleine 2-0 (15-9 and 15-10) and Van Erp was the better of Ceulemans 2-0 (15-14 and 15-3). So it led to the final 4-4 and the Scotch Double, which was the first sensation in the cup final.

The other session between Cues&Darts and Dekker Keukens, two of the top teams in the premier league, was given a glimmer of excitement by Gerwin Valentijn's victory in the first session against Pierre Soumagne 2-1 (15-6 in the decisive). Huub Wilkowski levelled the score by beating Henk Blauwblomme 2-1 (15-4 in the third set). Cues&Darts, with the entire team as supporters on the front rows of the arena, deployed its leading man Glenn Hofman to secure the first win in the final evening games. The Hague star beat Dave Christiani 2-0 (15-12 in 8, 15-9 in 7) in a high-class match. At the other match table, Ruben Legazpi was superior against Barry van Beers in the decisive set 15-2 in 7.

Eddy Merckx was the best man of the opening day with 2,142 in his match against Anno de Kleine. The Belgian does not return to the cup final due to the SIS Schoonmaak loss. Glenn Hofman will be back surely: he played 2,000 on average against Dave Christiani (who also played a very good match with 1,500). Other high averages: Anno de Kleine with 1.461, Jean van Erp with 1.428.

Harry Mathijssen shows his passion during the opening speech