TURNHOUT - The final part in the battle for the Belgian championship for teams in the main league is coming to the last four, five weeks with a neck-to-neck race between three teams. Biljart Express and BC Deurne are leading with 28 innings, but Deurne played one match less. Op de Meir follows two points down and is the third contender in the title race. Biljart Express played 18 of 21 matches so far, BC Deurne and Op de Meir 17 games. The most striking score this round was Peter De Backer's victory over Eddy Willems: 42-6 in 14 innings, 3,000 on average for the winner.
The numbers one and two in Belgium were facing each other this week in the top match between Biljart Express and BC Deurne. Frédéric Caudron took the win in the final sprint against Eddy Merckx 50-46 in 18 innings. Merckx led 9-3 in 5 innings, Caudron made 9 and led 23-20 in 11. Then Caudron made 14 (34-23) and Merckx answered 11 after the break (34-34), Caudron ran to 45- 39 to a finish with 50-46 in 18.
The final score in the clash between nrs. 1 and 2 in the rankings was 4-4 due to victories by Gerwin Valentijn against Jean van Erp (42-34 in 20) and Martin Spoormans against Davy van Havere (42-33 in 33) for Biljart Express and Frédéric Caudron against Eddy Merckx (50-46 in 18) and Glenn Hofman against Frans van Kuyk (50-34 in 31) for BC Deurne.
The number three in the rankings, BC Op de Meir, took a 7-1 victory in the away match against De Ploeg with a win for Eddy Leppens against Jef Philipoom 50-39 in 26 and a draw between Barry van Beers and Jaak Wijnen ( 50-50 in 31). Peter De Backer was the star player of this round with a win over Eddy Willems: 42-6 in 14 (3,000 on average).
KBC Kortrijk remained in the shadow of the three leaders by the 5-3 victory against BC Herentals. Martin Horn was the strong leader in his team with a win over Dave Christiani 50-31 in 18 and a high run of 14. Christian Rudolph shone with a run of 13, but lost to an excellent Ronny Brants 50-40 in 30.
KBC Brugse kept the maximum points at home by an 8-0 win over De Witte Molen with only a thrilling final between Steven van Acker and Francis Forton (50-49 in 38). De Leug won 6-2 against Mister 100 2, Johan Loncelle was the best man 50-27 in 28 against Marc Celen.
Frédéric Caudron and Eddy Merckx are the best players on average to enter the final phase. The individual scores have been updated by the competition leader up to the previous round. Caudron has 2,072 out of eight matches (400 in 193 innings), Merckx 2.022 in 13 games (627 in 310). The player on three is Eddy Leppens with 1,818 out of 8 matches (380 in 209). The high scoring players with the most matches are Peter Ceulemans (1,510 in 17 games), Frans van Kuyk (1,498 in 17), Gerwin Valentijn (1,451 in 16) and Johan Loncelle (1,423 in 17).
The players who achieved the most match points for their team are Peter De Backer and Gerwin Valentijn with 28 out of 16, Frans van Kuyk with 25 out of 17, Martin Spoormans with 24 in 17, Davy van Havere with 23 in 16, Eddy Merckx with 22 in 13 , Johan Loncelle with 21 in 17, Frédéric Beghin with 21 in 17, Peter Ceulemans with 19 in 17.
The top ten averages:
1 Frédéric Caudron 2.072 in 8
2 Eddy Merckx 2.022 in 13
3 Eddy Leppens 1,818 in 8
4 Martin Horn 1,633 in 11
5 Peter Ceulemans 1,510 in 17
5 Peter De Backer 1,509 in 15
7 Frans van Kuyk 1,498 in 17
8 Gerwin Valentijn 1,451 in 16
9 Johan Loncelle 1,423 in 17
10 Barry van Beers 1,414 in 15
The ranking in the final phase of the competition:
1 Biljart Express 28 - 1,441
2 Deurne 28 - 1,253
3 Op de Meir 26 - 1.357
4 Kortrijkse 22 - 1,116
5 De Leug 19 - 1,120
6 De Ploeg 18 - 1.133
7 Mister 100 1 16 - 1,228
8 Herentals 15 - 1,099
9 Kon. Brugse 12 - 1,046
10 De Witte Molen 7 - 0.997
11 Mister 100 Lier 2 7 - 0.913
12 Masters 4 - 0.976 (out of competition).